Get Your Students Hired
Hi Karen - Thanks for your post to the forum. You make a very good point, ideally we want our students to understand expectations well enough so that they will themselves know where they succeed and where they fall short. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Self assessment is ultimately what we as instructors want to instill in our students as they become professionals.
My evaluation of you is not as critical as your evaluation of you and how you would handle differently in the future.
It is more important that my evaluation of your performance mirrors your self evaluation rather than you rate yourself high and the evaluator rates you low or the reverse. When this happens, it makes for great discussion of specific examples of how you came to the rating. klg
Hi Sabrina - Good question! I would first be certain to have a detailed rubric for each competency. This makes sure that the students cannot say for example that they were able to create a bechamel sauce, but that it was a sauce that had a specific taste, consistancy etc. Susan
In my day to day experiences with our students I have noticed the exact opposite. With both the competency check list and practical I have noticed how a lot of students overestimate their abilities and do not recognize the growing opportunities. How would you address that?
Hi William - I think it depends on whether the student really does know more than everyone else or just thinks he/she does. If it's the former, then I try to get that student to sort of team teach with me, using him as a resource to help other students. If they really don't know what they are talking about and are really disruptive in the classroom, then I will ask them to demonstrate skills or answer questions that will lead to them clearly showing that they do not know it all. That usually puts an end to that. Susan
I teach at a post grad technical school part time and I own a computer consulting business. I am finding both when interviewing job applicants and teaching students in the IT field both extremes of self assesment. Some believe they have a long way to go and some (a smaller group thankfully) think they already know everything. This later group is dangerous in that they tend to refuse to learn from others and keep up in a rapidly changing field. The know-it-all tends to leave a trail of frustrated customers behind. Does anyone else see this in their area? How can it be dealt with in the classroom and educational environment?
I agree on the underestimating. I often see that a student will state that they do not understand, but in reality they do, but for various reasons will say they do not.
HI Cherry - When students "self-assess", we are asking them to give their own opinion on how well they can demonstrate a specfic skill. You can give them a competency check-list and ask them to rate themselves. Generally I find that students usually underestimate their ability. Susan