Introduction
In this article we will walk you through the intended purpose of Self-Assessment of Skills.
Self-assessment is a form of feedback given to oneself. It helps students think of possible adjustments they can make for their processes and deliverables (e.g. essays, presentations, etc.), and also helps them enhance learning outcomes and performance.
With Self Assessment, students can review their own skills or those of their own group effectively with the criteria & rubrics set by the instructor. Thus, instructors can motivate students to have the ownership of their own learning effectively.
You can use the Self-Assessment tool for both deliverables (e.g. essay, slides, etc.) and skills (collaboration, presentation, etc.). For deliverables, you can choose Self-Assessment on Work in the Tool Picker. For skills, choose Self-Assessment on Skills and then follow the streamlined activity setup process.
Self assessment options
In this article, we will focus on the Self-Assessment of Skills. Below, you can find our user guides for this feature:
How It Works
Self-assessment can be beneficial for teachers, helping them gain insight into how students perceive themselves compared to their peers or whether there was free-riding in group work. Importantly, it is extremely valuable for student learning as self-assessment creates effective self-reflection activities.
Our Self-Assessment of Skills tool can be used to let student self-assess individual skills or team skills. It follows a similar structure as our Group Member Evaluation tool, but contains only a self-assessment step.
What Features Can I Use With Tool?
Self-Assessment is also a plugin that can be enabled in the setup of the following tools:
| Feature Name |
| Peer Review |
| Group Member Evaluation |
In the workflow, this means that a student will review themselves using the same criteria before reviewing their peers. This feature can be enabled by toggling the switch in the settings.
Activating the self-assessment plugin in the tools
Highlighted Features
Individual vs. peer self-assessment: Teachers can change the type of self-assessment activity from individuals reviewing their own skills to students reviewing their skills as a group if it is a group activity.
Customizable criteria or rubrics: Structure and customize self-assessment criteria with options such as qualitative feedback criteria, scales, or rubrics.
Configurable grading: Teachers can convert any activity into a summative task, configure which steps of the assignment to be graded and how much each should count to determine the final grade.
Turnitin integration: If the institution has a license with Turnitin, instructors can enable plagiarism check setting for students to have their submissions reviewed for plagiarism by Turnitin before the automated feedback activity.
Benefits of using Self-Assessment of Skills
Promote self-regulation and autonomy: By taking ownership of their learning, students are empowered to develop a sense of autonomy and responsibility, as well as the skills of reflective practice and self-monitoring, which are essential competencies for future professional life.
Increase student engagement and motivation: As learners actively reflect on their skills, they gain a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and identify areas for improvement. This leads to students feeling more motivated and engaged in the learning process.
Relieve assessment loads: By letting the learners take charge of their own learning, instructors can be relieved of heavy assessment loads. The use of assessment tools also helps automate many manual tasks which allow instructors to focus on supporting students.