Self‐assessment in a technology‐supported environment: the case of grade 9 geography

Abstract

We investigated the impact of self‐assessment training on student achievement and on computer self‐efficacy in a technology‐supported learning environment (grade 9 students using Global Information Systems software). We found that self‐assessment had a positive effect on student achievement, accounting for 25% of the variance across three measures. The treatment effect was as large for females as for males and for those with low initial self‐efficacy as it was for those with higher scores. In addition, self‐efficacy increased more in the control than in the treatment group. We interpreted the self‐efficacy results to be a positive outcome of the treatment: teachers may have used self‐assessment training to depress the inflated self‐perceptions of some teenagers.

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this article was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, 2005. Preparation of the manuscript was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Views expressed in the article do necessarily represent the views of the Council.

Notes

1. ‘Self Assessment is an important skill by which students objectively examine the quality of their own work and/or their learning skills. It should not be used to inform their report card grade or mark’ (Ontario Ministry of Education 2000, 463, emphasis in the original).

2. In Ontario only grouped data on student demographics are available.