Effects of self-assessment on student learning in high school chemistry

Abstract

Self-assessment is an important skill students need to develop to be effective learners. Students were given lists of "I can" statements about the standards for two units in a high school chemistry class. They rated how well they were meeting these standards throughout the units based on their performance on assignments and practice quizzes. They were encouraged to use these ratings to identify topics they needed to study before taking the written summative assessment. The data collection tools for this study were unit reflections and unit surveys completed by the students, the students' summative assessments and a journal kept by the teacher. While more than half of the students found the "I can" statements helpful, using self-assessment had little impact on students' summative assessment scores.