Self assessment

Processes of self assessment where students examine and compare their own work with the aid of well defined evaluative criteria can constitute feedback, particularly in a formative setting ​(Andrade, 2019)​.

Self regulated Learning

Self assessment is closely linked to the concept of Self-regulated Learning (SRL) where students set their own goals and manage their own progress, SRL is associated with students who achieve well in their studies ​(Zimmerman & Schunk, 2011)​. The following tools and approaches may form a component of the description of a summative task, but a range of formative activities could be used to foreground these resources and model their best use.

Checklists

A common complaint from students in relation to assessments are difficult experiences of understanding the assessment and what is being asked of them. These experiences may be caused by a range of issues, including; detailed assessment descriptions with key instructions embedded within long sections of text, assessment instructions being situated across multiple locations including the Subject Outline, LMS based assignment submission instructions or complex assessments involving several separate PDF files. 

A checklist is a simple way of drawing students attention to key aspects of the assessment in a simplified form. The intention is not to restate the entire assessment but rather to highlight the key components and emphasise aspects of the assessment that students sometimes miss. By working through the list students are prompted to check and address these aspects of the assessment before it is submitted. 

Rubrics

When rubrics are provided before an assessment or in a formative assessment they can assist to increase student participation and enhance student understanding of a subject (Reddy & Andrade, 2010). Reading and understanding a rubric is a skill in itself; if students encounter them regularly through formative and summative tasks, the more helpful they will find them as a self-assessment tool. The following practices will increase the potential of a rubric for use by students:

• co-designing a rubric with students can help build understanding of the criteria and assist students to develop a sense of agency in their learning
• maintaining a focus upon communication by using accessible language when writing rubric criteria rather than dogmatic precision
• accompanying a rubric with annotated exemplars for each level of grading