Self-assessment consists of students evaluating each other.
An evaluation is an exam or a test . It is an inquiry carried out to find out the characteristics or qualities of something or to judge a person's knowledge or skills in a certain subject .
Mutual evaluation process
In the field of education and training , there are different types of evaluations. Each one is carried out in a different way to assess, from different perspectives, what it is intended to analyze.
A co-assessment , in this framework, is a process through which students evaluate each other . This means that, in a class, one classmate evaluates another.
Co-evaluation sometimes involves the generation of a grade . This occurs when a classmate is in charge of correcting and marking another's exam. In other cases, the co-evaluation is only informative , such as when a student makes a presentation and the rest are dedicated to giving feedback on the communicated contents ( feedback ).
Features and usefulness
Depending on the case and the particular needs of each subject and program, it is possible to apply this evaluation method between students who belong or not to the same team . Given the differences in dynamics that are inevitably established in each case (teammates feel the need to help each other and there may be a certain degree of competition with others), the results are also different, and provide unique benefits that Both complementary options return.
Typically, co-assessment is used for students to evaluate each other in the context of a research project that involves all of them in small groups. This is not an exclusive condition, since it can be applied even if each person has prepared the presentation individually, but it usually gives better results when there is a feeling of belonging to a group . This is because this method involves emotions to a significant degree, in addition to academic issues.
According to specialists, co-assessment contributes to learning since students become allies by cooperating with each other. The idea is that one student can help another to overcome difficulties and solve problems, while also learning in said mechanics.
It is estimated that co-evaluation can help the development of interpersonal intelligence . However, the teacher must be present and attentive since, eventually, the methodology can damage the relationships between students. That is why it is often argued that co-evaluation should be applied in specific areas and moments, and not in a general way.
Advantages
If we compare co-assessment with traditional evaluation, carried out by the teacher, we can notice several advantages. First of all, giving the student the responsibility of reviewing the work of their classmates can help them understand the importance of the effort when preparing a research paper and its impact on the final result. Additionally, all of this can help you reflect on your own performance.
An advantage of self-assessment is the feeling of responsibility it gives to students.
Nor should we forget the benefits of assuming a seemingly opposite role to understand it better and see one's own from another perspective. It is not uncommon for students to feel a certain fear of evaluations or to be frustrated by low grades, which they often consider unfair ; However, by putting themselves in the teacher's shoes, they can finally see the same failures in other people who must also submit to the teacher's corrections, and perhaps begin to accept their own.
Collaboration between students, instead of individual work, represents greater use of the group and the dynamics present among its members. The system that "opposes" them to the teacher as the only figure from whom they can learn something is outdated and unrealistic, so through co-evaluation we break with this closed scheme and take a step towards a situation more similar to what we experience outside of school. the school, where every event and every individual can teach us something.