Towards a framework for student self-assessment

A number of case studies in education show that self assessment is possible and is a potentially valuable aid in teaching and learning. However, many of these case studies seem to be dealing with small groups of advanced and fairly well motivated students and so do not necessarily apply to large groups sizes and lower levels of higher education. This paper looks at the case for self-assessment and argues that self-assessment is a valuable teaching and learning aid but, that students need to develop skill in self-assessment. The paper discusses some learning tasks which may develop this skill and argues that these need to be put into a coordinated framework. The paper also examines some of the problems of self-assessment. This paper was produced as a result of trying to introduce an element of self-assessment in a level 1 maths and statistics unit for an HND in business and finance.