Quantitative studies of student self-assessment in higher education: a critical analysis of findings

Student self-assessment occurs when learners make judgements about aspects of their own performance. This paper focuses on one aspect of quantitative self-assessments: the comparison of student-generated marks with those generated by teachers. Studies including such comparisons in the context of higher education courses are reviewed and the following questions are addressed: (i) do students tend to over- or under-rate themselves vis-á-vis teachers?, (ii) do students of different abilities have the same tendencies?, (iii) do students in different kinds or levels of course tend to under- or over-rate themselves?, (iv) do students improve their ability to rate themselves over time or with practice?, (v) are the same tendencies evident when self-marks are used for formal assessment purposes?, and (vi) are there gender differences in self-rating? The paper also discusses methodological issues in studies of this type and makes recommendations concerning the analysis and presentation of information.

[1]  Student self estimates of final course grades. , 1961, The Journal of genetic psychology.

[2]  E. J. Doleys,et al.  ACCURACY OF STUDENT PREDICTION OF COLLEGE GRADES , 1963 .

[3]  B. I. Murstein.  The Relationship of Grade Expectations and Grades Believed to be Deserved to Actual Grades Received , 1965 .

[4]  Some Preliminary Data on the Use of Self-Evaluations and Peer Ratings in Assigning University Course Grades , 1969 .

[5]  Peter G. Filene.  Self-Grading: An Experiment in Learning , 1969 .

[6]  Ronald H. Mueller.  Is Self-Grading the Answer? , 1970 .

[7]  John B. Bishop.  Another Look at Counselor, Client, and Supervisor Ratings of Counselor Effectiveness , 1971 .

[8]  Karl E. Keefer.  Characteristics of Students Who Make Accurate and Inaccurate Self-Predictions of College Achievement , 1971 .

[9]  D W Podshadley,et al.  A comparison of dental student self-evaluations with predicted and actual teacher evaluations. , 1971, Journal of dental education.

[10]  Donald A. Schön,et al.  Theory in Practice: Increasing Professional Effectiveness , 1974 .

[11]  Malcolm S. Knowles,et al.  Self-directed learning : a guide for learners and teachers , 1975 .

[12]  L. Chiu.  Influence of Student Teaching on Perceived Teaching Competence , 1975 .

[13]  P. Kegel-Flom.  Predicting supervisor, peer, and self ratings of intern performance. , 1975, Journal of medical education.

[14]  Evaluating Counseling Practicum Students. , 1975 .

[15]  Comparing Faculty and School Supervisor Ratings for Education Students. , 1975 .

[16]  Robert V. Stover.  The Impact of Self-Grading on Performance and Evaluation in a Constitutional Law Course , 1976 .

[17]  R. Tamblyn,et al.  Self-assessment units. , 1976, Journal of medical education.

[18]  D. Rowntree.  Assessing Students: How Shall We Know Them? , 1977 .

[19]  J B Morton,et al.  Correlations between staff, peer and self assessments of fourth‐year students in surgery , 1977, Medical education.

[20]  The grading game , 1977 .

[21]  Robert L. Holzbach,et al.  Rater bias in performance ratings: Superior, self-, and peer ratings. , 1978 .

[22]  Milton B. Larson.  Multiple Copies of Exams Encourage Self Grading. , 1978 .

[23]  H. E. Stanton,et al.  Self-Grading as an Assessment Method. , 1978 .

[24]  D. G. Greenfield.  Evaluation of Music Therapy Practicum Competencies: Comparisons of Self- and Instructor Ratings of Videotapes , 1978 .

[25]  J. Daines.  Self Evaluation of Academic Performance in a continuously assessed course of study , 1978 .

[26]  Student Self-Grading in the Introductory American Politics Course , 1978 .

[27]  Student Self-Assessment: Helping Students Help Themselves , 1979 .

[28]  Me and My Critics: Students' Responses to Architectural Jury Criticism. , 1979 .

[29]  David Boud,et al.  Self and peer assessment in professional education: a preliminary study , 1979 .

[30]  J. Flavell.  Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring: A New Area of Cognitive-Developmental Inquiry. , 1979 .

[31]  Self-Grading versus Instructor Grading , 1980 .

[32]  M. Oskarsson.  Approaches to self-assessment in foreign language learning , 1980 .

[33]  Spears Mc,et al.  Critical incident evaluations in the clinical component of a CUP: student self-assessment and instructors' ratings: a comparison. , 1980 .

[34]  Self-Assessment and Essay Writing. , 1980 .

[35]  Goldstein Hs,et al.  Self-evaluation by residents in family medicine. , 1980 .

[36]  David J. Boud,et al.  Self and Peer Marking in an Undergraduate Engineering Course , 1981, IEEE Transactions on Education.

[37]  J. Biggs,et al.  The Process of Learning , 1981 .

[38]  A comparison of self‐evaluations and classroom teacher evaluations for aides in a pre‐student teaching field experience program , 1981 .

[39]  Assessing the Journal: An Exercise in Self-Evaluation. , 1981 .

[40]  R. Moreland,et al.  Academic Achievement and Self-Evaluations of Academic Performance. , 1981 .

[41]  G. Glass,et al.  Meta-analysis in social research , 1981 .

[42]  Facilitating Systematic Self-Assessment: A Role for Teachers in Contemporary Appraisal. , 1982 .

[43]  Carl R. Rogers,et al.  Freedom to learn for the 80's , 1982 .

[44]  Self-assessment for teachers of health workers. How to be a better teacher. , 1982, WHO offset publication.

[45]  D. Shugars,et al.  Student self-evaluation in preclinical restorative dentistry. , 1982, Journal of dental education.

[46]  Richard T. White,et al.  Promoting self-control of learning , 1982 .

[47]  D. Schoen,et al.  The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action , 1985 .

[48]  A. Wheeler,et al.  Self, Teacher, and Faculty Assessments of Student Teaching Performance. , 1982 .

[49]  ON EVALUATING STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE , 1983 .

[50]  Larry Israelite.  Adult Student Self-Evaluation. , 1983 .

[51]  Adult student self‐evaluation. A case study comparing student, instructor, and designer formative evaluations , 1983 .

[52]  Influence of trait anxiety on self-grading. , 1983 .

[53]  D. Fuqua.  Variability across sources of performance ratings , 1984 .

[54]  S E Sclabassi,et al.  Development of self‐assessment skills in medical students , 1984, Medical education.

[55]  L. Arnold,et al.  Self-evaluation in undergraduate medical education: a longitudinal perspective. , 1985, Journal of medical education.

[56]  The Implications of Meta-analysis for Educational Research , 1985 .

[57]  Preliminary study at the Medical University of Southern Africa on student self-assessment as a means of evaluation. , 1985, Journal of medical education.

[58]  Robert E. Slavin,et al.  Best-Evidence Synthesis: An Alternative to Meta-Analytic and Traditional Reviews , 1986 .

[59]  Nancy Falchikov,et al.  PRODUCT COMPARISONS AND PROCESS BENEFITS OF COLLABORATIVE PEER GROUP AND SELF ASSESSMENTS , 1986 .

[60]  Donald A. Schön.  The reflective practitioner : how professionals think in action , 1986 .

[61]  D. Schon.  Educating the Reflective Practitioner. Toward a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the Professions. The Jossey-Bass Higher Education Series. , 1987 .

[62]  T. Gray.  An Exercise in Improving the Potential of Exams for Learning. , 1987 .

[63]  Donald A. Schön.  Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Toward a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the Professions , 1987 .

[64]  David Boud,et al.  THE ROLE OF SELF‐ASSESSMENT IN STUDENT GRADING , 1989 .