Becoming A More Critical, Autonomous, Reflective Learner

PRILHE Project - Lecturer’s Toolkit
Assessment and Autonomy
Assessment is all about making judgements. Developing students’ ability to judge their own performance early in the course,
should lead to a general improvement in their achievement. After students leave higher education, they are likely to be heavily
reliant on their own judgement of themselves and their peers, to estimate how effective they are in a wide variety of professional
contexts. For these reasons, it is important that these skills are developed.
Boud (1988b) explains that
autonomy can be viewed as the goal of education and the development of motivated individuals capable of independence
of thought and problem solving. It can also be viewed in terms of approach to learning, where students make decisions
about what to learn, how to set learning objectives and how to measure achievement. Finally, it can be viewed in
relation to subject matter and understanding and applying a theoretical knowledge base or discipline.
HEIs need to develop in individuals the ability to make their own decisions about what they think and do. Boud (1988a) shows that
independence and autonomy are highly rated goals of teachers and is encouraged to note that this view is shared by students. The
HEI mission therefore needs to be the development of skills of self-directed inquiry rather than just inculcation of course content, to
produce not just knowledgeable persons, but lifelong self-directed learners. This requires different teaching-learning and
assessment strategies.
I learn best … when I can determine the learning objectives, learning contents and the way of assessment selfreliantly
or collaboratively (in a group) and when the learning environment is supporting this very self-directedness.”
(Student, Germany).
Assessment: purposes and types for promoting students’ responsibility, reflection and autonomy
Boud recognises that formative assessment can only have an impact on learning when it influences a student’s own selfassessment.
Research shows that frequent self-evaluation is highly efficacious in enhancing student achievement (Boud,
2000:155). Furthermore, the same author states that “Reflective assessment with peers should be encouraged” (ibid).
Self-assessment refers to the involvement of learners in making judgements about their own learning, particularly about
achievements and the outcomes of their learning. It is a way of increasing the role of the students as active participants in their
own learning and it is mostly used for formative assessment to foster reflection on one’s own learning, processes and results
(Dochy et al,1999: 334).
Regarding its implications in educational practice the same authors claim that,
Self- assessment leads to more reflection on one’s own work, a higher standard of outcomes, responsibility for one’s
own learning and increasing understanding of problem-solving. The accuracy of self-assessment improves over time.
This accuracy is enhanced when teachers give feedback on student’ self-assessment.
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Becoming A More Critical, Autonomous, Reflective Learner