Abstract
Students who are being educated in remote/online environments tend to have more autonomy over their learning. Therefore, these students need to be able to monitor and evaluate their own learning. Self-assessment is a strategy that allows students to assess their learning process as well as their work. This chapter will review research that has established the benefits of self-assessment, including increased self-efficacy and student engagement. Strategies for direct instruction, along with details on how students can practice these skills, will be provided. Instruction of self-assessment skills will be broken down into four phases: using self-assessment prior to learning, during learning, after learning, and when reflecting on the overall learning process. Considerations for providing instruction of self-assessment skills in a remote/online environment will be presented. Supports for providing direct instruction of self-assessment skills to students with high instance disabilities will also be provided.
TopBackground
Before strategies for teaching and learning self-assessment can be explored, it must be first understood what self-assessment is, what the benefits of self-assessment are, and how it functions as a means of assessment. This section will begin by investigating the definitions of self-assessment as established in the literature. This will be followed by an explanation of the types of assessment employed within the practice of self-assessment. Next, connections between self-assessment and student engagement will be presented. Finally, this section will conclude with a proposal for a framework of self-assessment, based on the evidence of these findings. This framework will serve as the foundation to the methods and strategies for teaching self-assessment skills presented in the next section of this chapter.
Definitions of self-assessment tend to include a focus on student work (i.e., product), as well as assessment of learning (i.e., process). Andrade & Du (2007) define self-assessment as, “a process of formative assessment during which students reflect on and evaluate the quality of their work and their learning, judge the degree to which they reflect explicitly stated goals or criteria, identify strengths and weaknesses in their work, and revise accordingly” (p. 160). Key components of this definition include a focus on product, with students reflecting on and evaluating their work, as well as the process, with students also reflecting upon and evaluating their learning.
Brown and Harris (2013) define self-assessment as a “descriptive and evaluative act carried out by the student concerning his or her own work and academic abilities” (p. 368). Once again, here we can see a focus on the product of student work, and what the authors refer to as “academic abilities”, which could include a students’ learning process.
More recently Panadero et al. (2016) defined self-assessment as a “wide variety of mechanisms and techniques through which students describe (i.e., assess) and possibly assign merit or worth to (i.e., evaluate) the qualities of their own learning processes and products” (p. 804). One can see the authors’ explicitly describing the product and a focus on the qualities of the student learning process as well.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Self-Efficacy: One’s belief in their ability to succeed.
Summative Assessment: The process of evaluating student learning at the conclusion of a specific instructional period to determine academic achievement as compared to an academic standard or learning goal.
High-Instance Disabilities: Specific disabilities that are the most common in K-12 school settings. These disabilities can include autism spectrum disorders, speech/language disorders, attention challenges, specific learning disabilities, and emotional or behavioral disorders.
Student Engagement: The degree of attention and interest students demonstrate during learning and/or when instruction is being provided.
Graphic Organizer: A graphic display, typically on paper, that allows students to organize information which helps them identify relationships between concepts and ideas presented during instruction.
Self-Assessment: A process of both formative and summative assessment students use to actively evaluate their learning and work and provide themselves feedback to continuously improve their academic abilities.
Academic Goals: Skills and/or knowledge students need to proficiently demonstrate at the conclusion of a specific period of instruction.
Feedback: Information about one’s performance on a task which h can be used to improve said performance.
Formative Assessment: The process of continuously gathering evidence of student learning, prior to and during instruction, to determine the efficacy of instruction as well as the progress of student achievement.
Metacognition: The awareness and understanding of the cognitive processes used to assess one’s knowledge and performance.