Student self-assessment that promotes learning
Patricia Childers
Communication Design (COMD)
Graphic Design Principles, Typography
Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity
A self-assessment activity for reflection and reinforcement.
• low stakes, high impact activity to promote deep learning through engagement
• a mechanism to help focus on specific goals
• a tool to help students track progress towards their goals
• a tool to guide educators in the effectiveness of their communication
Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?
Inquiry & Analysis
A pedagogical approach to student review that not only reinforces student learning, but reinforces that they have learned. The goals this student classroom experience is to support the analysis of creative and critical thinking through the use of HIEPs,
Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?
This activity can be introduced at the conclusion of any student project. Classroom time in minimal, about 20 minutes based on the amount of material reviewed. There is no out-of-class time.
Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?
The low stakes activity requires the project rubric and copies of the final project. Students self access using the rubric. Student assessment refers to specific examples, footnoted or cross-referenced directly on the copy of the final project.
Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?
The rubric development is based on the General Education inquiry of Knowledge and Skills using specific project criteria. This course in not part of a college-wide assessment. The project in itself is not graded. I find that student's responses are a true reflection of the student's understanding. "When the act of self-assessing is given a learning-oriented purpose, students' self-assessments are relatively consistent with those of external evaluators, including professors." [Lopez, R., and Kossack, S. (2007). Effects of recurring use of self-assessment in university courses. Int. J. Learn. 14, 203–216. doi: 10.18848/1447-9494/CGP/v14i04/45277]
I do review the activity to insure that student's response indicates that they correctly understand the material. Any discrepancies are reviewed directly with the student to correct misconceptions. In this way, the activity reflects the impact of my communication of the material through the student's response. If student understanding of the material is low, I know that I need to change me approach.
Reflection: How well did this activity work in your classroom? Would you repeat it? Why or why not? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them? What, if anything, would you change? What did students seem to enjoy about the activity?
The activity works well and I use it several times a semester. The biggest challenge is the response of a few students to "having" to grade themselves. One student reminded me that grading is my job, not theirs. I explain that periodic, external replay of learned input patterns strengthens synaptic connections—the combination of structural plasticity, synaptic plasticity and self-generated reactivation not only stabilizes synaptic turnover but enhances their connectivity and associative memory. This explanation tends to erode resistance. And generally, many students have stated that they better understand the concept after the self assessment. The assessment is altered to support each different assignment.
Additional Information: Please share any additional comments and further documentation of the activity – e.g. assignment instructions, rubrics, examples of student work, etc. These can be links to pages or posts on the OpenLab.
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/pchilders-portfolio/2023/05/16/student-self-assessment-that-promotes-learning/
Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/pchilders-portfolio/wp-admin/post.php?post=266&action=edit
