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Thriving in Academe

Issues to Consider

Student, Assess Thyself
Self-evaluation lets students integrate their own experiences with what they are learning.

Does student self-evaluation help students retain their learning more effectively?
We believe that it does. To have a real impact on the students learning must be meaningful by changing the frame through which they see the world or by being applicable to everyday matters of concern to students. The reflection process is critical to learning in this way.

Is student self-evaluation useful for all types of students?
It has been used successfully with both adult students and students of traditional college age. Student self evaluation allows students to bring their own experiences to the table and to integrate them with what they are learning. This is especially critical for students from marginalized groups, such as students of color, women, and working class students, whose own life experience may not be well represented in the curricular material. However there may be cultural differences in comfort level with self disclosure.

Are any institution-wide structures necessary to provide a context for effective and meaningful student self-evaluation?
Student self evaluation can occur in many contexts, with or without institutional support. It helps when the institution develops a culture of student self-evaluation, and students have many opportunities to practice it. Some colleges and universities have developed courses that support student self-reflection such as the Art of Learning class at Antioch Seattle, the Ways of Knowing class at Seattle Central Community College, or the “Summary and Evaluation” course for graduating seniors at Fairhaven College at Western Washington University, Bellingham. At large universities like Washington State University, individual instructors have also developed effective approaches to student self-evaluation within individual courses or departments. For example, faculty members in architecture ask students to write about what they are learning from keeping design journals. Writing faculty at other institutions have encourage brief “post-writes,” in which students respond to a variety of questions such as: What problems did you find as you wrote this assignment?

Could student self-evaluation contribute to outcomes assessment?
Our colleagues Bill Moore and Steve Hunter have made a strong case for including student self-evaluations in outcomes assessment, drawing on their work at The Evergreen State College and State Board for Community and Technical Colleges in Washington State. A number of schools, including Evergreen and Antioch, have begun to utilize student self-assessments in this way.

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