Self-assessment and ego studies of secondary students

Abstract

Student self-assessment is recognized as providing concrete opportunities for students to assume responsibility for their learning through making assessment decisions and judgments (Cowan, 1988). However, the capacity of students to judge their learning against prescribed standards may be influenced by each student's ego and confidence. Egocentric thinking, which arises from the ego and self-serving perspectives, is known to interfere with critical thinking (Paul & Elder, 2003). Individuals who routinely practise egocentric thinking often use self-centred psychological standards, rather than objective intellectual standards, to determine what to believe and what to reject. This paper reports the results of a phenomenographic study on the different ways that secondary students understood and utilized student self-assessment. The study sought to contribute to the growing literature which recognizes the critical role that students' play in assessment processes, and in particular the different roles that they assume in student self assessment. The results of the study provides insights into how different students experience self assessment by articulating the variation in the perception and purposes of assessing one's own learning. This variation is depicted as a hierarchy of logically related students' conceptions of self-assessment.