Self evaluation is good...but for a grade?
I really like self evaluation; it gives students the chance to be self critical, it encourages them to take ownership of their actions, it allows them to “save face†and many other positive attributes. What I am not quite sure about however, is using their self analysis as final grading data. In short, very good students tend to be overly self critical in a learning environment, and less hard working students tend to be very generous toward self grading. Although I find it a useful tool and a good measure of a students overall awareness, I think it can go in the wrong direction in the end. How do you bother to ask for self analysis and still find it accurate?
Robert,
I agree that the self-eval is important. Personally I don't use this for the grade, but have the peers evaluate one another & incorporate that into the grade.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I like the idea of students being self-critical. Perhaps instead of basing their grade on the self-evaluation, make it more of an exercise in self-reflection. What went right and what could be improved with regard to both their participation and their group as a whole.
Hi Gail!
Self evaluation can be very empowering and insightful; however, I'm not sure that I agree that students should be evaluating themselves for any portion of their grade. I do agree; however, that it is a worthwhile exercise, especially for those students who need to build their self-esteem. An instructor could certainly learn a lot about a student from self evaluation.
Just a few thoughts with no scienticfic backing.
Good job!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
Self evaluation is an excellent tool to use for grading. Self evaluation reveals what the students really think about themselves. They find that they are more honest about themselves than the teacher can be. It is a great self-help tool for any occasion, I believe. The grade should not be based totally on the self-evaluation. The student should also have other methods for acquiring a grade, self evaluation should only be part of the grade.
Having students assess members of the team, including themselves, offers a way to balance their evaluations. Their opinion of their own work compared to their teammates' opinions can pinpoint the extreme evaluators.
I use the results only to influence my own assessment in the plus-or-minus range.
I have found that most of my students give themselves either perfect or near perfect scores. However, sometimes strong students (with so much to offer but obvious confidence issues) seem reluctant to engage in self-evaluation other than to ask for my "help" because they "have no strengths, only weaknesses."
Self evaluation for a grade seems like a recipe for failure. Evaluation to me requires review and analysis by an unbiased source. How many times in life do we find ourselves wishing we could have steped back and taken a look at a situation with out our emotions clouding our judgement? Also we need to consider, a person in a learning situation may have no past experience to compare their efforts, or work against.
