n South African Journal of Higher Education - The role of self assessment in moderating students' expectations

Abstract

This preliminary study investigates relationships between students' expectations before an assessment, their in situ assessment of their own performance and the evaluations made by the lecturer. Most recently, it has been widely accepted by academics that self-assessment and self-monitoring has a valuable role to play in the learning process. Does self-assessment play a role in the moderation of student expectations? The results of this study show that while there is a high correlation between the students' final assessment of their own performance and that of the lecturer, the students do not have an innate ability to assess their own performance reliably ± training and practice is necessary. It is however clear that the use of self-assessment is an extremely effective way of moderating students' expectations which are often unrealistically higher than their performance.