6.3 Making a self-assessment

The ability to self-assess your work is a critical skill for you to develop if you want to improve your performance. If you can assess your own work accurately and identify the gap between what is required and what you are producing, you are more likely to be able to close the gap. But making an accurate and honest self-assessment is not an easy skill to develop, even though it is crucial in learning how to learn. Some courses do ask you to self-assess your work and submit your comments as part of the assignment. If this is required by your course, take it seriously and think carefully about what you have produced. This is where you should definitely use the marking criteria if they are provided and your tutor will give you appropriate feedback on your comments. If your course does not require this, you could put together a self-assessment form for yourself, which your tutor may agree to have a look at for you. It’s worth spending time on this as it will develop your own ability to self-assess.

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Activity 10

When you are ready to send your assignment to your tutor, spend a few minutes completing a form like the one in Figure 4. If your tutor has not provided a form like this, you can reproduce it yourself by completing Part A and attaching a note asking your tutor to respond. You can attach Part B as a separate sheet or write the headings on the back of Part A.

Figure 4: A form for your assessment of your assignment

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This image shows a form in two parts. Part A provides spaces for the following sections to be completed: ‘Name’, ‘Assignment Number’, ‘1: One or two things that I think I have done well or tried to do well’, ‘2: One or two things that were difficult and I’m not too happy about’, ‘3: My assessment of this piece of work’, 4: I would especially like feedback on the following areas – a: course related, b: skills related’, ‘5: Other comments or information I feel it is important that my tutor should know’. At the bottom of this section there is an instruction to ‘Please send this form with your assignment. Complete the reverse side when it is returned’. Part B contains the following sections to be completed: ‘6. My tutor’s comments on this assignment’, ‘7: My response to those comments’, ‘6: Two things I am going to try to do next time’. Question 8 contains two spaces for comments ‘a’ and ‘b’. At the bottom of the form there is an instruction reading ‘Now file this form with the assignment and refer to it when you start work on your next one. Then keep it to help with revision.

Figure 4: A form for your assessment of your assignment

Discussion

If you take it seriously, completing the form is an important learning experience, so give yourself time to think about and complete each section. Trying to identify what you think you have done well is difficult but important. Use the form as part of a dialogue with your tutor who will then respond with feedback and advice. Building up this kind of dialogue will help you to learn from your assignments more effectively.

Here is Tim's form.

Name Tim Sullivan	Assignment number 2
1 One or two things that I think I have done well or tried to do well:
I think I have structured this well.
I checked through and made sure that everything was related to the topic.
2 One or two things that were difficult and I'm not too happy about:
I'm still unsure about my analytical skills - I find it difficult to do this particularly with the literature.
3 My assessment of this piece of work:
I've read back through it and now I'm starting to worry that there's too much on one part of the question and not enough on the other. I can't spend any more time on it but the balance doesn't seem right.
4 I would especially like feedback on the following areas:
(a) Course related
Analysing.
(b) Skills related
I haven't spent enough time on getting the balance between the different parts of the question right. I'm spending ages on gathering the material and sorting it out - trying to get it down to something manageable.
5 Any other comments or anything that you feel it is important that your tutor should know:
I've got a promotion at work - I really need to try to cut down on the time I'm taking.
Please send this form with your assignment. Complete Part B when it is returned.

Here is Sue's form.

Name: Sue Napier	Assignment number 7
1 One or two things that I think I have done well or tried to do well:
Q1 essay. Found it really interesting. Think I've structured it well and tried to include evidence for the points I've made.
2 One or two things that were difficult and I'm not too happy about:
Q1 essay. Found it difficult to keep within the word limit so I may have missed out important points in doing so.
Q2 part (d) difficult and I'm not sure I've got it right.
3 My assessment of this piece of work:
A bit rushed as I'm thinking of revision and the exam now.
4 I would especially like feedback on the following areas:
(a) Course related
Do I need to remember all the names and dates of studies for the exam?
(b) Skills related
Am I on the right lines in Q2 (d) interpreting new data in relation to what is in book 6?
5 Any other comments or anything that you feel it is important that your tutor should know?
My youngest is off school at the moment so study time is limited.
Please send this form with your assignment. Complete Part B when it is returned.