How do students self-assess? examining the metacognitive processes of student self-assessment

Abstract

Self-assessment is foundational to self-regulated learning and academic achievement. As such, education systems globally are called to foster student self-assessment; however, research continues to indicate that educators and students struggle to cultivate student self-assessment. A core barrier to supporting student self-assessment is that the metacognitive processes that shape self-assessment—i.e., how students monitor and control their self-assessment processes—are not yet understood, meaning that supporting students in developing their self-assessment processes is implausible. This study aimed to investigate the metacognitive processes of students engaged in self-assessment. We recruited English-speaking university students (N = 25) to participate. In a lab, participants self-assessed and revised their own essays on a computer with access to on-screen self-assessment resources (e.g., rubric, exemplars). Participants’ thoughts, emotions, and actions were captured via gaze-cued retrospective think alouds. Using a general inductive approach, we identified two overarching themes in the think aloud data: metacognitive experiences and metacognitive skills. Metacognitive experiences, especially feelings of difficulty, helped participants monitor their self-assessment processes. Metacognitive skills (e.g., goal setting/reasoning, selecting a strategy) expressed the ways that participants controlled their self-assessment processes and indicate that students are continuously updating their goals to direct their self-assessment processes and drawing on metacognitive self-knowledge. Findings elucidate mechanisms whereby self-assessment may foster metacognition. By explicitly teaching students the metacognitive processes of self-assessment and supporting students in making their self-assessment metacognition explicit, educators may use self-assessment to foster co-regulated learning and develop students’ self-regulated learning. Findings advance descriptive aspects of self-assessment theory, providing an initial empirical understanding of the metacognitive dimension of student self-assessment.