Self assessment as learning: Finding the motivations and barriers for adopting the learning-oriented instructional design of student self assessment

This study explored the motivations, barriers, and design implications for adopting student self assessment. The exploration was done with the intent to help students focus more on learning than on grades. Nine instructors from various academic disciplines and 17 of their students at a small midwestern university in the United States were engaged in separate focus group interviews to discuss their motivations and barriers for designing and practicing self assessment. Results of this study were aggregated around participant motivations, barriers, and six instructional design questions that surfaced from a review of the literature. Surveys utilized by Carless's (2003a; 2003b) Learning-Oriented Assessment Project stimulated useful discussions. Discussions were recorded, coded, and compared against themes found in the literature. Results of this study showed that participants were motivated by the way self assessment helped student achievement align with published course objectives and assessment criteria. Self assessment also connected students to unpublished course objectives such as relationship building. Participants shared a number of initial fears about a student's ability to reliably judge performance. They considered assessment to be the teacher's job and wondered if students were qualified and objective in assessing themselves. Those in this study who persisted through these initial fears found themselves motivated by the formative feedback, increased dialogue, and enhanced reflection. Participants appreciated the way feedback helped to improve future performances, clarified the assessment criteria, and informed their self assessment. While feedback from peers was motivational, students felt unqualified to give themselves or their peers a grade. Students who were practiced in self assessment felt more qualified and confident in giving feedback, preparing criteria, and justifying a grade. However, students were concerned about the consistent design and implementation of self assessment activities from instructor to instructor. The use of technology to self assess was neither a barrier nor a motivator, but discussions around its use with anonymous peer feedback generated significant dialogue. This study produced an unanticipated catalytic effect on every instructor in this study. Results of this collaborative action research affirm that the motivators for practicing self assessment outweigh its barriers.