To Feedback or Not to Feedback in Student Self-assessment

Extensive research (Black & Wiliam, 1998) notes the importance of feedback for learning. It is posited that even final-year undergraduate students will benefit from feedback and would thus value tutor feedback as an integral part of the student self-assessment process. At a British university, students were trained to carry out self-assessment of two types: firstly, self-assessment prior to peer and tutor feedback and secondly, self-assessment which integrated feedback as part of the process. Students overwhelmingly favoured the latter. In addition, analysis of student errors showed that, contrary to expectations, the majority of students' errors in translation were principally caused by their native language. Furthermore, discussion and questions on criteria revealed that students' expectations of their grades were closely related to the amount of time and effort which they had invested in their work. This was external to the actual standard of their work and their awareness of this.