| How can we help pupils to learn through self-assessment? |
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Research taster
Training pupils to carry out self-assessment helps to enhance their learning. In an experiment, classes that discussed how their work would be assessed and then self-assessed their work against the criteria they had created made considerably more progress than classes which simply discussed their likes and dislikes about the teaching. The pupils who previously had been assessed as having weak basic skills made the greatest gains. So low achievement in schools may be more to do with pupils’ lack of understanding of what they are meant to be doing and what counts as quality, than lack of innate ability  .
Your evidence
You might like to check the extent to which your pupils understand the work you are asking them to do and evaluate for themselves. One way you could do this is to ask them to write their own checklist of criteria they think helps to make a good piece of work after a group discussion about what might count as success. Would looking at their checklists help you to see whether they have a clear understanding of what they need to do to make their work successful as well as help you to identify aspects that they are overlooking? Do you notice any discrepancies between the pupils’ checklists and their final pieces of work? Are there aspects which they do not appear to notice in their own work, or perhaps find difficult putting into practice? Moving forward As a follow up, you may find it helpful to ask your pupils to talk with you about their experiences of self-assessment and consider how the information your pupils give adds to your understanding of where they are with their learning. You may like to consider other ways of finding out their perspective of what they are learning and how you might make finding out a regular event. Find out more  You can find out more about how AfL practices help pupils learn how to learn on the TLRP Learning how to learn project website at: http://www.tlrp.org/proj/phase11/phase2f.htmlYou can find out more about the potential of AfL to develop and improve pupil learning on the GTC’s Research of the Month website at: http://www.gtce.org.uk/research/romtopics/rom_teachingandlearning/raising/ You can find out more about putting AfL into practice on the GTC’s Research of the Month website at: http://www.gtce.org.uk/policyandresearch/research/ROMtopics/afl/ You can find more further reading suggestions on the theme of assessment for learning at: http://www.rtweb.info/ch14/nfr14.html |
