Page 88 - Learning to Learn

READING EXPERIENCE 4: SELF -ASSESSMENT: THE ENGINE OF SELF-GROWTH
88 L EARNING TO LEARN: BECOMING A SELF-GROWER
Excerpts from the International Journal of Process Education , June 2011 (Vol 3 Issue 1):
A Comparative Analysis of Reflection and Self-Assessment
Melissa Desjarlais (Valparaiso University) & Peter Smith (Saint Mary’s College)
Introduction
Reflection and self-assessment are both meaningful processes that can lead to learning from experience, yet
they have different purposes and goals. Reflection is a process that involves playing back a period of time
related to previous valued experiences in search of significant discoveries or insights about oneself, one’s
behaviors, one’s values, or knowledge gained. Specific criteria for performance are usually not involved.
An important goal in reflection is bringing focus to an indeterminate situation (Dewey, 1938) by gaining
clarity and by fully experiencing what has happened. It is important to gain closure during reflection and
not ruminate repeatedly about the experience. Reflection involves divergent thinking and often includes
journaling. In contrast, self-assessment is a process used for studying one’s own performance in order to
improve it. It is more proactive than reflection in that performance criteria are defined before the action
in question begins or before it is replayed; and strengths, improvements, and insights (Wasserman &
Beyerlein, 2007) against these criteria are then recorded during the process.
This paper will perform a comparative analysis of reflection and self-assessment. Methodologies for
each will be described, and then an example of each will be provided. To highlight the steps of each
methodology, the same example will be used of a student who is procrastinating on an assigned project.
The paper will then identify specific similarities and differences of the two processes, and list tips both for
helping someone decide which of these processes to use in a given situation, and for engaging in them.
Methodologies
In this section (Table 1), brief descriptions of the steps for each methodology are given and a discussion
of each step is provided.
Table 1 Reflection and Self-Assessment Methodologies
Reflection Methodology Self-Assessment Methodology
Recognize a need Step 1 Define the purpose of the performance
Pick a time and place Step 2 Define the purpose of the self-assessment
Play back the experience Step 3 Develop performance criteria
Document all insights Step 4 Determine attributes for each criterion
Play what-if games Step 5 Determine evidence for each criterion
Organize insights into common themes Step 6 Select a scale and range for evidence
Identify key insight(s) Step 7 Collect and measure the evidence
Generalize key insights Step 8 Use evidence to prepare a self-assessment report
Determine the need for other processes Step 9 Determine the need for other processes
Assess the quality of the reflection process Step 10 Assess the quality of the self-assessment process