examples of teacher self assessment in education

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What Is a Teacher Self-Assessment? Tools, Types and Benefits

The number of public school teachers has grown in the past decade, the National Center for Education Statistics reports: A comparison between the 2011-12 and 2020-21 academic years reveals an 11 percent increase. However, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), there are teacher shortages in approximately three-quarters of U.S. states. During the pandemic, between 2019 and 2021, 7 percent of public school teachers decided to leave the profession, further exacerbating the challenge, the GAO reports.

Despite the many difficulties they face, teachers remain dedicated to providing the best education possible to their students. As teachers seek to nurture their students’ curiosity and creativity, teacher self-assessments emerge as a valuable practice that can benefit everyone. These reflective exercises, combined with pursuing an advanced education in inclusive instruction, can empower educators to gauge their effectiveness in the classroom.

What Is a Teacher Self-Assessment?

A teacher self-assessment is a tool that a teacher can use to measure their teaching performance against their goals. The process often involves answering questions about their teaching methods and what impact they have on student learning.

Questions may focus on key elements of teaching practice, such as:

• Am I creating a conducive learning environment?
• How is my teaching practice facilitating student-centered learning?
• What enrichment activities am I offering? Are they encouraging open discussions?

A teacher self-assessment may involve collecting and analyzing relevant evidence, for example, student work samples or questionnaire responses.

Since objectivity is key in self-assessments, teachers use specific criteria to assess the effectiveness of their teaching practice. Another key is to be straightforward and honest when answering questions. Self-assessments are best conducted in a setting conducive to reflection, whether that’s at home, in a classroom after school hours, or in a quiet space of choice.

Different Types of Teacher Self-Assessments

A teacher self-assessment can be approached in any of a number of different ways. A common practice is for teachers to observe themselves through video recordings. This approach can help them rate their own effectiveness in delivering instruction, engaging students and managing the classroom.

In another example, teachers compile a portfolio containing lesson plans and sample materials. Teachers could include a collection of work that showcases their growth, reflections, achievements and evidence of development. Teachers can then refer to these materials when they set goals for the future as well.

Teacher self-assessments can also include activities such as journaling. Teachers can record their experiences throughout a school year — both good and bad — and then review their notes at the end of the year. This approach can provide insights into what was effective and what could be improved upon.

A teacher’s self-assessment can include observation from peers as well. In this approach, teachers ask their colleagues, typically more experienced teachers, to observe them in their classroom. This can lead to constructive feedback and new ideas that can help teachers improve their teaching practice and their students’ educational outcomes.

These self-assessment approaches can empower teachers to gain insights, identify growth areas and improve their overall effectiveness.

The Benefits of Self-Assessment

Teacher self-assessments provide a systematic approach to building new skills, which can help teachers become more competitive and position themselves for better pay. Of course, many criteria influence teacher salaries, and there are variances in teacher salaries by state as well.

By engaging in a self-assessment, teachers can gain insights into their teaching methods and strategies, which can enable them to identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments to improve student outcomes.

Teacher self-assessments offer numerous other benefits for educators as well, such as the following:

• They can uncover challenges and skills teachers may have overlooked or not fully recognized. A deep exploration of their teaching practice can illuminate areas for further development.
• They can help teachers identify pressing problems. For example, teachers might recognize the need to prioritize certain important issues for students, leading them to work with an instructional coordinator to address specific concerns through targeted solutions and improvements.
• They can allow teachers to delve into specific aspects of their teaching practice. Teachers can move beyond the jargon, such as “good performance,” to come up with concrete evaluations of their instructional performance.

Another benefit of teacher self-assessments is that they allow teachers to make informed decisions, implement effective strategies and be honest with themselves about what’s working in the classroom. Making an effort to conduct self-assessments also demonstrates a teacher’s willingness to improve, their commitment to pursuing teaching excellence and their desire to achieve professional growth.

Teacher Self-Assessment vs. Traditional Evaluations: What’s Different?

Teacher self-assessments and traditional evaluations may be different, but they both can play an important role in teachers’ professional development. Self-assessment is a personalized, reflective approach. The source of the evaluation is the teacher themselves. In other words, teachers consider their own teaching practice to judge their strengths and weaknesses and identify areas for improvement.

Self-assessments are also voluntary and tend to be informal. Teachers may choose to ask their peers to observe them in class for the purpose of self-improvement.

On the other hand, traditional evaluations are based on the perspectives of school administrators or teachers’ supervisors. Unlike a self-assessment, a traditional evaluation is a formal process that relies on standardized criteria, accountability measures and observation protocols defined by a school district.

Teacher self-assessments empower teachers to practice autonomy in setting goals and creating action plans for improvement. In contrast, traditional evaluations are typically a requirement imposed by a supervisor or external authority such as a school district administrator. This approach may limit a teacher’s ability to shape the evaluation process.

Combining these two approaches can provide a comprehensive and well-rounded evaluation of a teacher’s performance and professional growth.

Self-Assessment Tools

Teachers can use any of various tools for their self-assessments, including self-reflection, surveys and questionnaires. For instance, they can use rubrics containing checklists that outline teaching criteria. Before the start of the school year, the teacher develops a checklist to measure areas such as planning, lesson content, classroom organization, instruction delivery, student engagement and classroom management. Throughout the year, they rate themselves and identify areas for improvement.

Teachers can also use readily available self-assessment tools that offer structured frameworks. These tools pose questions that cover aspects of teaching such as subject matter knowledge, planning skills and effectiveness in delivering instruction. Teachers assess themselves and receive personalized feedback. For example, the American Institutes for Research offers teachers a self-assessment tool to help them reflect on their teaching practices that support social and emotional learning for students.

Another teacher self-assessment method is collaboration with others. As such, a teacher can ask their students about the students’ perception of what’s being taught, the classroom environment, their level of engagement and their level of satisfaction. Students can share their feedback through a survey or questionnaire the teacher provides.

Advance Your Teaching Career

Teacher self-assessments can unlock teachers’ potential to advance in their careers. They can help teachers overcome challenges and harness their strengths. They are a powerful tool that can empower lifelong learning, enabling teachers to adapt to challenges, stay ahead of the curve and embrace the latest teaching practices.

Teachers with a growth mindset and a commitment to continuous improvement can further enhance their careers by advancing their education. Augusta University Online’s Master of Education in Instruction program offers a curriculum focused on classroom management, pedagogical theory, assessment analysis and curriculum design. The program focuses on preparing teachers with the skills and knowledge they need to foster inclusive and student-focused learning environments.

Learn more about how the program can help you reach your professional goals as a teacher.

Recommended Readings What Can You Do With a Master of Education?

Sources: Abeka, Teacher Self-Evaluation American Institutes for Research, Self-Assessing Social and Emotional Instruction and Competencies: A Tool for Teachers Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, Teacher Leadership: Self-Assessment and Readiness Tools Education Week , “The Status of the Teaching Profession Is at a 50-Year Low. What Can We Do About It?” EF, “Why This One Habit Can Transform Your Teaching” National Center for Education Statistics, Characteristics of Public School Teachers National Education Association, NEA Teacher Evaluation and Accountability Toolkit SafetyCulture, “Teacher Evaluation Methods for Effective Quality Teaching” U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Pandemic Learning: Less Academic Progress Overall, Student and Teacher Strain, and Implications for the Future”

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University Center for Teaching and Learning

Self-assessment, self assessment.

Self-assessments allow instructors to reflect upon and describe their teaching and learning goals, challenges, and accomplishments. The format of self-assessments varies and can include reflective statements, activity reports, annual goal setting and tracking, or the use of  a tool like the Wieman Teaching Practices Inventory. Teaching Center staff can offer individual instructors feedback on their self-assessments and recommendations for how to use results to improve teaching. The Teaching Center can also help schools and departments select, design, and teach instructors to use self-assessment tools.

Sample Self-Assessment Tools

• The Teaching Practices Inventory , a 72-item reflective, self-reporting tool developed by Carl Wieman and Sarah Gilbert, was created for instructors teaching undergraduate STEM courses. It helps instructors determine the extent to which they use research-based teaching practices.
• The Teaching Perspectives Inventory , a 45-item inventory that can be used to determine your teaching orientation. This inventory can be a helpful tool for reflection and improvement of teaching. It can also help you prepare to write or revise a statement of teaching philosophy .
• Instructor Self-Evaluation , created by the Measurement and Research Division of the Office of Instructional Resources at the University of Illinois Urbana
• The Inventory of Inclusive Teaching Strategies, created by the University of Michigan’s CRLT
• Faculty Teaching Self-Assessment form, created by Central Piedmont Community College
• Faculty Self-Evaluation of Teaching , created by the University of Dayton, contains self-evaluation rubrics, a narrative self-evaluation form, and several series of reflective questions.

Resources and Readings for Self-Assessment

Blumberg, P. (2014). Assessing and improving your teaching: Strategies and rubrics for faculty growth and student learning . Jossey-Bass.

Collins, J. B., & Pratt, D. D. (2011). The Teaching Perspectives Inventory at 10 Years and 100,000 respondents: Reliability and validity of a teacher self-report inventory. Adult Education Quarterly, 61 (4), 358–375. ( NOTE: To access this content, you must be logged in or log into the University Library System.)

Holmgren, R.A. (2004, March 26). Structuring self-evaluations. Allegheny College.

Rico-Reintsch, K. I. (2019). Using faculty self-evaluation as an innovative tool to improve university courses. Revista CEA, 5 (10), 69-81. doi:10.22430/24223182.1445

Wieman, C. & Gilbert, S. (2014). The Teaching Practices Inventory: A new tool for characterizing college and university teaching in mathematics and science. CBE Life Sciences Education, 13 (3). doi: 10.1187/cbe.14-02-0023

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• 20 Examples of Self-Assessment Teaching Types: Definitions and Analysis

Dr. Jennifer Smith's

1 month ago

🟣 In this article, we will enter the fascinating world of the Teaching Self-Assessment. We will explore what this process implies, how educators can use it to improve their practice and what are the advantages of self-reflection in the educational field. Join us on this journey to discover how teachers can be active agents of their own professional growth. Let's start!

• 🗳️ Example of a Teaching Self-Assessment Experience

Imagine you're a committed teacher and you want to improve your teaching skills. You decide to use self-evaluation as a tool to reflect on your teaching methods and their impact on your students.

• 🎯 Examples of Self-Assessment Teaching

Self-assessment of Classroom Practices: A teacher observes his own teaching in the classroom, identifying areas of improvement in interaction with students and in the presentation of content.

Self-assessment of Learning Results: A teacher analyzes the results of the exams and tasks to evaluate the effectiveness of your instruction and whether the learning goals were achieved.

Self-assessment of Pedagogical Strategies: An educator reflects on the strategies and resources used in teaching, evaluating their effectiveness in the commitment and understanding of students.

Time Management Self-assessment: A teacher examines how he uses his time in the classroom and beyond to maximize student learning.

Self-assessment of Communication with Students: A teacher reviews how he communicates with students, evaluating his ability to listen, feedback and foster a trusted environment.

Evaluation Skills Self-assessment: An educator analyzes his ability to create fair and effective assessments that measure student progress.

Self-assessment of Adaptability: A teacher reflects on his ability to adjust his teaching methods in response to the changing needs of students.

Self-assessment of Professional Development: A teacher evaluates his commitment to continuous learning and participation in professional development activities.

Self-assessment of Interpersonal Relations: An educator considers the quality of the relationships he establishes with his students and colleagues.

Lesson Planning Self-assessment: A teacher reviews the planning and organization of their lessons, evaluating their alignment with learning objectives.

• 🗓️ Self-assessment Teacher Examples

Here are 25 additional examples of areas where teachers can perform self-assessments to improve their practice:

Self-assessment of Technology Integration in the Classroom: Assess how technological tools are used in teaching.

Self-assessment of Diversity in the Curriculum: Reflect on the inclusion of diverse perspectives in teaching materials.

Self-assessment of Classroom Behavior Management: Assess strategies to maintain a positive learning environment.

Self-assessment of Feedback to Students: Analyze how constructive and timely feedback is provided to students.

Self-assessment of Training Assessment Planning: Assess the preparation of tests and tests.

Self-assessment of Communication with Parents and Guardians: Reflect on the quality of communication with students' families.

Self-assessing the Integration of Socio-Emotional Skills: Evaluate how socio-emotional skills are encouraged in the classroom.

Self-assessment of Stress Management: Reflect on how stress and pressure are handled in the educational environment.

Self-assessment of Learning Styles Adaptation: Assess the ability to adapt teaching to different learning styles.

Self-assessment of empathy: Reflect on the ability to understand the emotional needs of students.

Self-assessment of Collaboration with Other Teachers: Assess collaboration and teamwork with colleagues.

Self-assessment of Resource Planning: Assessing the selection and use of educational resources.

Self-assessment of the Training Assessment: Reflect on how the training evaluation is used to guide teaching.

Self-assessment of Pedagogical Innovation: Assessing the incorporation of innovative approaches in teaching.

Self-assessment of Cultural Sensitivity: Reflecting on consciousness and respect for the different cultures present in the classroom.

Time Management Self-assessment in Planning: Evaluate how time is distributed when planning lessons.

Self-assessment of Special Needs Adaptation: Assess the ability to cater to students with special educational needs.

Self-assessment of Student Motivation: Reflect on strategies to motivate students.

Self-assessment of Content Update: Evaluate the update and relevance of the content taught.

Self-evaluation of Teaching Self-Efficiency: Reflecting on confidence in one's own teaching skills.

• 💢 What is Teacher Self-Assessment

Teaching self-evaluation is a process by which educators reflect on their practice, evaluate their performance and seek to identify areas of improvement in their teaching. It is a valuable tool for the professional development of teachers.

• ⤴️ Characteristics of Self-Assessment Teaching

Key characteristics of teaching self-assessment include:

Personal and critical reflection on educational practice.

Identification of strengths and areas of improvement.

Establishing professional development goals.

• 🔃 Why Teacher Self-Assessment Important

Teacher self-evaluation is important because it contributes to the professional growth of educators, improves the quality of education and ultimately benefits students by providing them with higher quality education.

• 📎 How to Realize Effective Way Teacher Self-Assessment

Effective teacher self-evaluation involves collecting evidence, honest reflection and creating an improvement plan. Teachers can use multiple sources of information, such as observations, feedback from colleagues and student performance data.

• 🖇️ Applications of Teacher Self-Assessment in the Classroom

Teaching self-assessment is applied in the classroom by improving education, adapting it to the needs of students and promoting effective learning.

• 🗳️ Challenges in Teacher Self-Assessment

Challenges include resistance to change, lack of time and resources, and the need to balance self-evaluation with external evaluation.

• ↩️ Types of Tools and Methods for Teaching Self-Assessment

There are various tools and methods, such as self-reflection questionnaires, observation records and teaching portfolios, which teachers can use in their self-assessment.

• 📦 Impact of Teaching Self-Assessment on Professional Development

Teaching self-evaluation has a positive impact on professional development by promoting continuous improvement and the growth of pedagogical skills.

• 🎯 Practical Tips for Teaching Self-Assessment

The councils include the creation of a positive self-reflection environment, the search for feedback and the establishment of specific improvement goals.

• 💢 History and Evolution of Teaching Self-Assessment

Teaching self-assessment has evolved over time as education has adopted more student-centred and evidence-based approaches.

• ☑️ The Role of Research in Teaching Self-Assessment

Research in teacher self-assessment contributes to understanding best practices and developing effective tools.

• 📃 Example of Introduction for a Teaching Self-Assessment, Report or Work

In this report, we will explore the power of the Teacher Self-Assessment as a tool for the professional growth of educators. We will analyze how self-reflection can boost the improvement of teaching and learning, and how teachers can become active agents of their own development.

• 📃 Example of Conclusion for a Test, Report or Work on Self-Assessment Teaching

In short, Self-Assessment is a valuable practice that strengthens the quality of education and promotes the growth of teachers. In reflecting on their own practice and constantly seeking improvement, educators play a key role in the success of their students and in the advancement of education.

• 🎯 Conclusion

In this article, we have explored the importance of Teacher Self-Assessment as a tool for professional development and improvement of teaching. Teachers committed to self-reflection continue to raise educational standards and prepare students for a successful future.

How to cite this article according to APA guidelines

Hello! I'm Dr. Jennifer Smith, a linguistics expert. In my blog, I'll take you on a fascinating journey through the world of language. With a wide range of examples, we'll explore diverse topics ranging from phonetics to sociolinguistics. Join me and discover the beauty and complexity of human communication!

Meaning of Repulsion Definition and Concept

Meaning of Analyzing Definition and Concept

Meaning of TCP/IP Protocol Definition and Concept

Meaning of Tractor Definition and Concept

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Principles of assessment for learning

• 2 Working in groups
• 3 Self and peer assessment
• 4 Sharing objectives and criteria
• 5 Questioning
• 6 Using feedback
• 7 Using tests

Self and peer assessment

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Discover how you can use self and peer assessment to actively involve students in their learning, including teaching tips and examples to use in your classroom

Source: © Shutterstock

Self and peer assessment gives students a structure to reflect on their work, what they have learned and how to improve.

What is self and peer assessment?

Self-assessment enables students to take ownership of their learning by judging the extent of their knowledge and understanding. It provides a structure for them to reflect on their work, what they have learned and how to improve.

Peer-assessment, where they act as critical friends and support each other, can help students to develop self-assessment skills.

In order to make any judgements, students must have grasped the learning and the standards of work expected of them.

Why use these techniques?

Through self and peer assessment, students take more responsibility for their own learning. It helps the individual to:

• assess their own progress objectively
• crystallise learning objectives
• recognise their understanding
• think about what they did not understand
• grow in confidence
• take their own learning forwards.

Within the class, it fosters respect and collaboration.

Peer criticism can be more effective than that from the teacher because:

• The normal shared language will be used.
• It acts as a stimulus to complete work and to raise standards.
• Some students are more receptive to comments from their peers.
• Group feedback can command more attention than that of an individual.

It frees up the teacher to concentrate on what is not known, rather than what is.

How do I set up self or peer assessment?

When preparing for an activity involving self or peer assessment, it is vital to:

• Create an atmosphere of mutual trust.
• Decide how the students will discover the learning objectives. Criteria for success must be transparent.
• Select a technique suitable to the topic (see ’Example activities’ below for some ideas). Give explicit instructions.
• Encourage students to listen to others, to ask questions on points that they do not understand and to contribute ideas and opinions (see ’Discussion and feedback’ below).

Example activities

Examples of what the students might do include:

• Research and present within a small group, which then judges each talk.
• Make a judgement about an answer and suggest improvements.
• Use the criteria to give feedback about their peer’s work.
• Research answers in order to give feedback about their peer’s work.
• Comment on anonymous work.
• Indicate how confident they are about a topic or task (both before and after an activity).
• Write questions to match a learning outcome and then answer questions written by others.
• In groups, generate questions for homework, then select the best through class discussion.
• Analyse a marking scheme and apply it to their own or others’ work.
• Develop the learning outcomes for a given area of work for themselves.

Discussion and feedback

• Have a strategy to tackle the weaknesses that are identified. For example, if it is a small number of students, draw them together for further work whilst giving the rest of the class an extension activity.
• Allow plenty of time for students to take action following feedback from peers or you. This may be repeating an experiment, carrying out further research or rewriting their notes. You may have to provide input for this.
• Use plenaries and feedback, to pause and take stock, during and towards the end of the session.
• Check that, if needed, students have made correct records.

Hints and tips for promoting effective self and peer assessment

Alternative plenary.

In this variation, a small group of students leads the discussion, instead of the teacher. When preparing and running the activity, it is important to:

• Let students know that they will sometimes lead a plenary themselves.
• Remind the class of the learning objectives.
• Use judicious questions to review the learning achieved.
• Summarise as a basis for working out the next steps.
• Ensure that the class agrees with any summary (may be by group discussion).
• Ensure that there is opportunity for students to make additional points.
• Give supportive, tactful feedback to the leaders.

‘Traffic lights’ or ‘Thumbs up’

Using this technique, students show an instant evaluation of their knowledge and understanding. From this, both teacher and student can recognise problems.

• thumbs up – confident
• thumbs sideways – some uncertainty
• thumbs down – little confidence.

Using green, amber and red ‘traffic light’ cards, instead of thumbs, makes students give a definite response and provides the teacher with a good visual indicator. These cards can also be used for students to show their choice between alternatives, for example, ‘Do you think the answer is 1, 2 or 3?’

Cards or thumbs can be used at any time during a session.

Prompt questions

You can use questions to help students move forward.

Appropriate questions would be based on:

• What do you think you could improve?
• Why do you want to improve that?
• What was the hardest part?
• What help do you need?

Learning diary

To ensure that the self or peer assessment activity is meaningful, and not a bureaucratic exercise, it can be helpful to make recording an integral part of activities. The diary could be linked to plenaries and written in class notes. Headings or questions might include:

• What was exciting in chemistry this week.
• The most important thing I learned this week.
• What I did well. What I need to do more work on.
• Which targets I’ve met.

The questions do not need to be the same each week.

Is there anything else teachers should think about?

When preparing and running a self or peer assessment activity, consider:

• Introducing the technique gradually so that skills are developed.
• Different methods for introducing students to the learning objectives/outcomes.
• Setting up a supportive atmosphere, so that students are comfortable about admitting to problems.
• Giving students sufficient time to work out the problems.
• Making the encouragement of self-reflection intrinsic to teaching.

Common issues to watch out for

• It takes time, patience and commitment to develop self and peer assessment. For preference, there should be a strong learning culture and an environment of mutual trust throughout the school.
• Students will need group skills.
• There must be an opportunity for the expected learning and standards to be made clear.
• Teachers need to listen unobtrusively to avert the propagation of misunderstandings (careful group selection also helps).
• A few students will only respond to work in class as exercises to be completed and not internalised.

How can I tell if self or peer assessment is successful?

When you devise your checklist to evaluate the session, consider how you will measure:

• How well the students understood the objectives.
• Whether the student groupings worked as you wished.
• If the students improved their self-assessment skills.
• How meaningful the peer assessment was.
• The students’ response to the technique.
• The support for different abilities.
• Whether the lesson correlated with the objectives.
• Improvement in work standards.

Additional information

This information was originally part of the  Assessment for Learning  website, published in 2008.

Working in groups

Sharing objectives and criteria

Questioning

Using feedback

Using tests

• Working independently
• Active learning
• Peer assessment

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Encourage your students to take an active role in their learning using these assessment for learning principles to structure and plan your chemistry lessons.

Using tests | Principles of assessment for learning

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Hints and guidance on how to use tests in the classroom as a formative exercise to actively involve your students in their learning.

Using feedback | Principles of assessment for learning

Learn how to use feedback more effectively to actively involve your students in their learning, with tips and ideas to use in the classroom.

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Instructor Self-Assessment

“Know thyself,” said Socrates, inspiring generations of men and women to understand themselves, their motives, and their abilities to locate their role in society (Plato, 1913). This advice is especially relevant for teachers, whose complex and evolving task demands continual improvement and who seek to bridge the gap between themselves and their students in relation to what Baylor professor emeritus of philosophy call “matters that matter” (Baird, 2020).

The first step in improving is understanding one’s current state. As many scholars of teaching have pointed out, instructors vary not only in effectiveness but in goals, perspectives, and styles. Several tools exist to help instructors reflect on these aspects of their instructor identity. For example, the  Teaching Goals Inventory  (Angelo & Cross, 1993) helps instructors see the hierarchy and context of one’s teaching goals in relation to a range of possible goals.  Grasha's Teaching Styles Inventory  analyzes one’s views on teaching (Grasha, 1996), as does the  Teaching Perspectives Inventory  (Pratt & Collins, 2001), with additional parsing of behaviors, intentions, and actions. Such tools are descriptive rather than evaluative, useful for reflection and conversation.

Formal and informal methods of self-assessment can aid in improving one’s teaching and integrating teaching into one’s professional identity.

Formal Method: The Teaching Portfolio

Many institutions require portfolios for promotion and performance reviews (Little-Wienert & Mazziotti, 2018). But portfolios are also a useful process of professional development apart from such external mechanisms. Though the structure of teaching portfolios may differ depending on the instructor and instruction, they are linked by a common thread: documenting the strengths of one’s teaching through artifacts and reports and providing opportunity for reflection and examination (Murray, 1994).

Artifacts and Reports

Any items that document teaching are eligible for inclusion: syllabi, lesson plans, assignments, teaching videos, PowerPoints, and student course evaluations, etc. These selections should highlight the strengths of the teacher and show a range of ability (Kearns & Sullivan, 2011). Some might highlight specific students taught and identify the techniques used to help those struggling (Koskinen & Valencia, 1994).

Personal Reflection

Instructors should include a personal statement or teaching philosophy (Foote & Vernette, 2001). A strong teaching statement describes learning goals and their alignment to activities and assessment, is tailored to one’s discipline, and considers teaching and learning within one’s institutional context (Kaplan et al., 2007; Kearns & Sullivan, 2011; Coppola, 2002; Pratt, 2005). The statement should demonstrate the iterative process of teaching with reflections on how past teaching experience and feedback informs new choices and one’s evolving philosophy (Eierman, 2008). A portfolio can also include a cover letter or summary framing the selection of documents and articulating the connections between the documentary evidence and one’s teaching philosophy. Additionally, a narrative critically reflecting on student evaluations can help the instructor and others interpret feedback (Franklin, 2001).

Informal Methods

Less formal methods of self-assessment can add to one’s self-knowledge and lead to improvements in teaching. Below are some methods taken from the University of Hong Kong’s assessment resources (Chan, 2010):

• Keep a journal for personal reflections to be updated after every class. Ask yourself, what worked and what didn’t? What should be kept for the future, and what needs to be abandoned?
• Ask questions in class or conduct informal surveys or brief classroom assessment techniques (see ATL Teaching Guide on  formative assessment ) periodically to check students’ experience and comprehension.
• Meet with students. Depending on class size and other factors, this could be done individually or with groups of students. This, like asking questions in class, allows the instructor insight into how the students are doing and whether the instructor’s communication is effective.
• Write personal reflections on student evaluations. Was the praise merited? Were the criticisms fair? Such reflection will aid self-knowledge as well as foster opportunities to think ahead about how to respond in a future job interview or supervisor evaluation.
• Record classes and watch them with a colleague or supervisor; journal about the experience and make notes on ways to improve future classes.
• Form a partnership with a student, who is not in your class, to reflect with you on your teaching (Cook-Sather et al, 2019).

Angelo, T., & Cross, K. Teaching goals inventory. Retrieved July 10, 2020.  https://tgi.its.uiowa.edu/

Baird, R. (2020, forthcoming). Baylor’s intellectual heritage. In Richman, C.J. & J. Lenore Wright (Eds.),  Called to teach: Excellence commitment, and community in Christian higher education . Eugene, OR: Pickwick.

Chan C. (2010). Assessment: Evaluating your own teaching.  Assessment Resources @HKU , University of Hong Kong. Retrieved March 2020.  http://ar.cetl.hku.hk

Cook-Sather, A., Bahti, M., & Ntem, A. (2019).  Pedagogical partnership: A how-to guide for faculty, students, and academic developers in higher education.  Elon, NC: Center for Engaged Learning.  http://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/pedagogical-partnerships.pdf

Coppola, B.P. (2002). Writing a statement of teaching philosophy: Fashioning a framework for your classroom.  Journal of College Science Teaching ,  31 (7) p. 448–53.

Foote, Chandra J., & Vernette, P.J. (2001). Teaching portfolio 101: Implementing the teaching portfolio in introductory courses.  Journal of Instructional Psychology, 28 (1) 31–37.

Franklin, J. (2001). Interpreting the Numbers: Using a Narrative to Help Others Read Student Evaluations of Your Teaching Accurately.  New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 87 , 85–100.  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tl.10001 (epdf)

Grasha, A. (1996).  Teaching with style: a practical guide to enhancing learning by understanding teaching and learning styles . Pittsburg: Alliance.

Kaplan. M., Meizlish, D.S., O'Neal, C., & Wright, M.C. (2007). A research-based rubric for developing statements of teaching philosophy. In Robertson, D.R. and Nilson, L.B. (Eds.),  To improve the academy: Resources for faculty, instructional, and organizational development ,  vol. 26  (pp. 242–62). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.

Kearns, K.C., & Sullivan, C.S. (2011). Resources and practices to help graduate students and postdoctoral fellow write statements of teaching philosophy.  Advances in Physiology Education, 35 (2), 136–145.

Koshinen, P.S. , & Valencia, S. W. (1994). Portfolios: A process for enhancing teaching and learning.  Reading Teacher, 47 (8), 666–69.

Little-Wienerta, K., & Mazziotti, M. (2018). Twelve tips for creating an academic teaching portfolio.  Medical Teacher, 40 (1), 26–30.

Murray, J.P. (1994). Why teaching portfolios?  Community College Review, 22  (1), 33–43

Pratt, D. (2005). Personal philosophies of teaching.  Academe, 91 (1), 32–35.

Pratt, D., & Collins, J. (2001). Teaching Perspectives Inventory. Retrieved July 10, 2020.  http://www.teachingperspectives.com/tpi/

Plato. (1913).  Apology of Socrates.  Loeb translation.

Eierman, R.J. (2008). The teaching philosophy statement: Purposes and organizational structure.  Journal of Chemical Education, 85 (3), 336–39.

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Self-assessment as a tool for teacher’s professional development

Published by johanna järvinen-taubert on may 2, 2024 may 2, 2024.

Our ultimate goal with LessonApp is to empower teachers, the change-makers. If we want to lift the quality of teaching and strengthen the teaching profession, we need to equip teachers with knowledge, skills and understanding to constantly develop their own work. Therefore, we are persistently seeking new ways to help teachers to improve their own teaching and increasing their well-being at work. One key strategy for teacher’s continuous professional development is self-assessment and self-reflection. Self-assessment and reflection mean critically evaluating one’s own knowledge, performance, beliefs, or output, so that they can be improved or refined. With a profession as complex as teaching, self-reflection offers teachers an opportunity to think about what works and what doesn’t in their own work and what is the reasoning behind their actions.  

As the role of the teacher is changing, teachers will increasingly find themselves challenged to become reflective about their core pedagogical values and beliefs. In addition, constructivist models of teaching and learning are promoting new criteria for successful teaching – criteria that rely heavily on teacher’s self-assessment and decision making about their own work.

The goal of self-assessment is to help teachers play an informed and active role advancing their own way of work. Self-assessment helps teachers create critical reflective practice in their own actions. It strengthens teachers’ own responsibility over their work and increases control and ownership of their own professional development. In addition, self-assessment helps teachers to recognise their own strengths and targets for development. Self-assessment is a process that makes one collect, record, and analyze things that happened in the lesson or in work so one can make improvements to one’s own action where necessary.

In addition, students benefit from teacher’s self-assessment. The professional development of the teacher has a positive effect on teaching and thus on students’ learning. In addition, self-assessing teachers are likely to value and encourage students’ own self-reflection: they assist students in reflecting on and evaluating their learning experiences.

LessonApp is designed to give quality tools to teachers to plan better lessons. When implementing new strategies, practices and methods, it is vital to reflect the changes you can spot in your own work. How has my lesson planning evolved? Am I implementing more purposeful and versatile methods? What else is there I could learn more about? To help teachers’ self-reflection, we created a self-assessment tool for LessonApp Premium. It is designed for LessonApp users to keep track of their personal development as a teacher.

Finnish high-quality teacher training has been the source of inspiration for us here. In Finland it is a common practice to train the teacher students to critically reflect their own teaching and actions. By systematically guiding the self-reflection from the beginning of their studies, Finnish teachers internalize the on-going critical reflection as a basic professional practise in their work.

With LessonApp we wanted to create a similar continuous professional development tool for our users. They can reflect on their own professional competence development by answering questions in LessonApp’s self-assessment tool.

The LessonApp’s self-assessment questionnaire consists of three different phases: the first one is completed when user starts using LessonApp Premium, the second one is done after ten lessons and the third one after 30 lessons are designed by using LessonApp. If the user wants to continue the monitoring of their personal development, they can complete the self-assessment an unlimited number of times. This self-evaluation is more than sort of automatic reflection, it is more systematic and habitual. It requires a little of your time and effort but pays out with great returns on investment in professional development. LessonApp’s self-assessment tool helps you to recognize your progress and areas for further development. After each phase the tool gives you feedback and helps you to identify the advancement as well as the professional fields that still need further development.

We wanted to acknowledge this commitment to on-going self-reflection and professional improvement. By completing all three self-evaluations, the user gets a LessonApp certificate by e-mail. The certificate can also be printed if desired.

By utilising LessonApp to the fullest extent, our users continuously learn more and promote their professional development as a teacher. This is the goal of self-assessment as well. Through the findings our users gather, they may gain the insight they need to take their instruction to the next level. Welcome to try our self-assessment tool!

Ignatious Somakahle Ndonyela · May 28, 2023 at 2:47 pm

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Self-Evaluation of Teaching

Formal evaluation of your own teaching serves at least two purposes.

• Analyzing your own pedagogy can be a productive component of the development of your teaching over time, and
• Your presentation of your pedagogy can guide others in their evaluation of your teaching. 

Formal self-evaluation can take a number of forms

The most developed form is a full teaching portfolio, which will likely include a teaching philosophy, a description of your teaching methods and learning assessments, evidence of student learning outcomes, and other documentation.  If you would like guidance and feedback as you develop a teaching portfolio, please join our Community of Practice on Teaching Portfolios, a two-week program offered each May.

Perhaps the most basic component is a self-evaluation of a course you have just completed, and you may find evaluating one recent course to be a practical and manageable start for self-evaluation of your teaching.  The resulting self-evaluation might form part of your annual review.  Later, you might combine it with your self-evaluations of subsequent sections of the same course for a more condensed account your pedagogical approach to that course— such a cumulative evaluation might form part of an application for promotion, for a new position, or for a teaching award.

Self-Evaluation of a course you have just completed

A formal self-evaluation of a course you have just completed is likely to be a written document of 1-3 pages. 

Consider beginning with some specifics that will provide helpful context for your audience:

Basic course information:  

• Course number and title, 
• Brief course description, 
• The delivery method, and, if it was in-person, where it was taught,
• How often the class met and when,
• The number of students in the class,
• Whether the course included a separate lab, 
• Any other relevant specifics.

Information about how the course fits into your own experience: 

• How many courses you were teaching in this semester,
• Whether this was a new preparation for you or how many times you've taught it before , 
• Whether this is a new course or one that is also taught by other faculty, and, if the latter, whether you sought to adhere to the department norm or to make changes to how the course is usually taught,
• Whether you collaborated with co-instructors or graduate teaching assistants.

After this introductory material, your evaluation of your course design, pedagogical strategies, and/or interaction with students can be organized in any number of ways:

You might divide your self-evaluation into two sections: what went well in the course and what you would like to do differently the next time.  

• Describing what went well, try to address how you know that component of the course went well and why that component is important.
• Describing possibilities for improvement, try to focus on specific things that you will be able to change—this will allow you to demonstrate continual improvement and to assess how these changes work over time.

You might consider elements of your course chronologically, addressing

• your initial course planning and design, including your course objectives
• practices you used to engage students in the course material
• activities you designed to communicate the material to the students
• assignments and exams you designed to assess student learning
• feedback you provided to help students improve throughout the semester

(This chronological approach can work well for a course in which you gather mid-semester feedback from your students, providing a framework that enables you to document changes you may have made in response to feedback as you moved through the semester.)

You might decide to organize your self-evaluation with reference to the learning objectives of the course.  For each learning objective, you might explain 

• what pedagogical strategies you used to reach that objective, 
• which strategies were most successful and how you know, 
• which strategies could be improved or replaced and how you might do that.

You might decide that the most useful direction for your self-evaluation for a particular course would be a focused response to one element of your teaching that semester.  For example, many self-evaluations of teaching in 2020-21 focused on how the instructor adapted to the pandemic conditions.  This kind of focus can be useful in other situations, as well, in response to a new development in your field, your pedagogy, and/or your own professional trajectory.  You might focus your self-evaluation on how you responded to one of the following:

• a development in the field of study
• a particular pedagogical initiative, such as inclusivity and/or accessibility
• a particular pedagogical innovation you have been working on 
• an innovation in the course compared to previous incarnations
• a trend in the student course surveys
• an observation by a colleague
• interactions with CTL

Support for your self-evaluation

Evidence supporting the claims your self-evaluation makes about your course design, pedagogical strategies, and/or interactions with students can be supported in a number of ways:  

• You might refer to your course materials (syllabus, assignments, exams, etc.)
• You might refer to demonstrated student improvement on course assignments and/or accomplishments connected with the course
• You might refer to feedback you provided on student work
• You might refer to interactions you had with students or collaborations among students
• You might analyze student perceptions of the course based on communications from student and/or trends in the student course surveys  
• You might refer to comments you received through a peer review of your teaching or a CTL classroom observation
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Self-assessment

Faculty self-assessment is core to any evidence-based approach to evaluating teaching. Most four-year colleges and universities use faculty self-assessment when evaluating teaching. In addition to providing the instructor’s perspective on and analysis of their teaching, self-assessment also contextualizes other forms of data submitted to the committee, including peer reviews and student evaluations. Self-assessment practices can also provide faculty members with systematic and ongoing reflection on their own teaching.

Teaching Statements and portfolios

A Teaching Statement provides a central way for review and promotion committees to assess an instructor’s pedagogical practices and the reasoning behind them. Additionally, instructors may produce a teaching portfolio to demonstrate and evidence claims in the Teaching Statement.

Teaching Statements

As a purposeful essay on teaching values and practices, the teaching statement, sometimes known as a Teaching Philosophy Statement, provides an opportunity to reflect on and communicate what individual instructors do and why. In one to two pages, Teaching Statements often include:

• Description: The instructor’s pedagogical goals and teaching practices that support them
• Analysis: Reflection on teaching and how this informs teaching practices
• Empirical data: Experiences or observations of student learning on which decisions about teaching are based

Teaching portfolios

A teaching portfolio is a curated collection of materials documenting teaching goals and practice in support of the Teaching Statement. You can use teaching portfolios in the review and promotion process or use them as a self-reflection tool to help faculty identify areas where they might improve.

At a number of universities, review and promotion committees consider teaching portfolios when evaluating teaching because they can provide a coherent and succinct view of an instructor’s experience and approach to teaching.

Documents should be well organized and annotated in a teaching portfolio to illustrate and evidence an instructor’s teaching philosophy; materials may include:

• Teaching Philosophy/Statement
• Short-term and long-term teaching goals
• Teaching responsibilities
• Teaching objectives, strategies, methodologies
• Evidence of student learning (cognitive or affective)
• Evidence of innovation
• Student evaluations for multiple courses using summative questions
• Classroom observations by faculty peers or administrators
• Review of teaching materials by colleagues inside or outside the institution
• Representative and detailed course syllabi
• Teaching recognition and awards

Course portfolio

A course portfolio – what one faculty member calls his “notes for next time” – can serve as a powerful tool for reflection and self-evaluation from year to year.

Contents: Syllabus, course materials, assignments, critical analysis of teaching, faculty reflection, and student feedback.

Regularly recording brief reflections on course materials helps instructors understand what to keep and/or change when they teach the class again.

Guiding questions might include:

• What did I improve or innovate in this course?
• What worked well this quarter? What do I think supported student learning?
• What did students learn?
• What does my students’ performance say about the effectiveness of teaching practices?
• What assignments, readings, etc. will I keep the next time I teach this course?
• What resources do I need to support my teaching?
• How can I teach this better next time?

Advice for review and promotion

For chairs and committees, set unit-driven expectations.

Provide clear guidance on what you and your department or unit expect to see in self-assessments. Consider Teaching Statements and portfolios in the context of these shared norms for self-assessment.

Evaluate holistically

Consider self-assessment as core data to evaluate the instructor’s teaching and in the context of other data such as feedback from peers and students, as well as evidence of student learning. Taken together, materials should provide information about an intentional approach to pedagogy.

Seek specifics

In Teaching Statements, look for specific evidence of purposeful teaching. Articulations of teaching goals and values will often be clearer in descriptions of experiences and practices than in broad statements of philosophy.

Value responsiveness and growth

Look for evidence that the instructor seeks out and responds to feedback from students and peers and demonstrates sensitivity to student, departmental, and disciplinary needs.

Take the long view

It is often helpful to consider the long view of teaching both in evaluation and self-assessment. Innovations in pedagogy require experimentation and refinement, which take time.

For instructors

Follow college, departmental, or unit guidelines.

Be mindful of the norms provided by your college, department, or unit, and make sure you discuss your work in relation to given guidelines and expectations.

Be specific

Be specific when articulating your pedagogical goals and values. Provide evidence of your goals and values through concrete examples of how you put these goals into practice. Avoid vague, general, and/or idyllic statements that could read as generic rather than purposeful.

Demonstrate responsiveness and growth

Share how and why you solicit and respond to feedback from students and peers. Include examples of challenges, adaptations, and lessons learned. If you have received transformative feedback through peer review or student evaluations, discuss how you have incorporated that feedback into teaching. Show responsiveness to student, departmental, and disciplinary needs in your teaching practice.

Articulate your own value

How are you carrying on excellent traditions or innovating in teaching? How have you done this over the course of your career? What values motivate your pedagogical approach?

Be cohesive

Present a coherent portrait of your pedagogy throughout the Teaching Statement and portfolio. Be sure the materials you select for the portfolio align clearly with your Teaching Statement.

Be comprehensive

Do not assume your reviewers will know of all aspects of your teaching. Account for all relevant aspects of your past and present work, highlighting productive transformation and/or consistent demonstration of your approach and values.

Further reading: Resources on teaching portfolios and teaching statements

• Vanderbilt University’s Teaching Statements offers reflection questions and exercises to help you begin writing a teaching statement.
• Ohio State University’s Writing a Philosophy of Teaching Statement provides an overview of the content and format of teaching statement with examples from several disciplines.
• University of Michigan’s Writing A Statement Of Teaching Philosophy For The Academic Job Search (PDF) includes a rubric (page 7), for self-evaluating your Teaching Statement.

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{{item.title}}, my essentials, ask for help, contact edconnect, directory a to z, how to guides, teacher standards and accreditation, strategies for student self-assessment.

While using student self-assessment in the classroom, there are a range of strategies that can accompany and complement this process. These allow students to monitor, reflect and take responsibility for their own learning and can be a testament to their effort, progress and achievement.

Strategies and tools

A range of strategies and tools are available to engage students in self-assessment.

Tools, such as learning journals, portfolios and conferences, involve a student reflecting on their performance and presenting evidence of their progress and achievement against success criteria.

Learning journals or learning logs

Learning journals or learning logs can be used by students to:

• maintain a record of the processes and strategies students use with their learning
• reflect on their learning
• record class and individual long-term and short-term learning goals
• plan steps to achieve the goals
• monitor progress towards goals.

Tips for using learning journals

• Make the learning journal an integral part of teaching and learning – as important as the pen/pencil/laptop.
• Incorporate 5-10 minutes reflection time for students to discuss and record their learning in their journals at the end of a lesson – sentence starters and prompts may be provided if necessary. For example:

• During the introduction of a tricky new concept or activity, pause and ask students to paraphrase the idea or task in their learning journals – share a few explanations out loud and discuss as necessary.
• Before beginning a lesson have students divide a page into two columns. During the lesson have students record teacher-identified key words in the first column and ideas relevant to the key words in the second column.
• Have students record long-term class learning goals, short-term class learning goals and individual learning goals as well as steps to achieve the goals. Revisit these periodically to allow students to evaluate their progress towards the goals and plan next steps.
• Have students include scaffolds or templates used for assessment and feedback and/or goal setting in their learning journals.

A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that tells the story of the student’s effort, progress, or achievement in a given area(s).

Engaging students in gathering evidence, giving feedback and communicating their learning encourages students to take responsibility, own their learning, and monitor their progress.

When compiling a portfolio students need to:

• be clear about the purpose of the portfolio and the learning goals that will be the focus of the portfolio
• select samples of their work that show progress over time on achieving the goals
• reflect on what has been learned and what’s next in the learning
• share information with teachers and parents to communicate their learning.

Tips for using portfolios

• Inform parents of the purpose and plans for the use of the portfolio.
• Include a variety of tasks and artefacts that demonstrate the full range of learning and provide a complete picture of progress over time.
• My learning goal was …
• I chose this piece because …
• It demonstrates my progress in …
• A next step for me is …
• My new learning goal is …
• Consider digital portfolios which are easy to store and access.

Student-led conferences

Student‐led conferences capture the full value of self‐assessment.

As with self‐assessment students need to receive explicit instruction about their role in conferencing.

Tips for using conferences

• Modelling by the teacher is an effective way to show students what is required.
• how feedback from teachers, peers and self were applied and how the feedback helped to improve the work
• the features that make the work effective and how is it an improvement over an earlier piece
• what has been learned
• the next steps in learning − how this work relates to the long and short term learning goals.
• Design simple templates or instructions for students. For example, be prepared to talk about and show evidence of:
• some things you did successfully
• some things you could improve upon
• next steps.
• Practise student-led conferences with peers and teachers prior to including parents.

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Helping Students Thrive by Using Self-Assessment

As a teacher, when you design a lesson or unit, you design it with the hope that everything will go according to plan, your students will learn the content, and they’ll be ready to move on to the next concept. If you’ve been a teacher for more than a day or two, however, you know that this often isn’t the case.

Some students will pick up the information and quickly get bored while others will be lost and quickly fall behind. And sometimes, the lesson will fall flat and none of your students will understand much of anything.

Other times, a lesson will work really well with one group of students, but it will flop with another. This is all just par for the course with teaching, and you never know what you’re going to get on any given day.

Thankfully, there is a way you can make your lessons better, more achievable, and more appropriate for all students. The solution is to teach them how to use self-assessment.

Self-assessment is one of those “teach a man to fish” concepts–once students understand how to self-assess, they’ll be more equipped to learn in all aspects of their life. At the very basic level, self assessment is simple: students need to think:

• What was I supposed to learn?
• Did I learn it?
• What questions do I still have?

This formative assessment helps students and teachers understand where they’re at in their learning. The more students learn to do this at your direction and the more techniques they have to self-assess, the more likely they are to inherently do it on their own.

What does self-assessment look like?

Self-assessment can take many forms, and it can be very quick and informal, or it might be more structured and important. In essence though, self assessment looks like students pausing to examine what they do and don’t know. However, if you simply say, “OK, class, time to self-assess,” you’ll likely be met with blank stares.

The more you’re able to walk students through strategies for self-assessment, the more they’ll understand the purpose, process, and value of thinking about their learning. For the best results to reach the most students, aim to incorporate different types of self-assessment, just as you aim to incorporate different ways of teaching into your lessons.

Why self-assessment works

One of the reasons self-assessment is so effective is because it helps students stay within their zone of proximal development when they’re learning. In this zone, students are being challenged, which means they’re learning, but they’re not being pushed too hard into frustration.

The reason this is so helpful is because teachers can see anywhere from 15-150+ students every day, so it’s hard for a teacher to know where every single student is at in his or her learning. Without stopping for self-assessment, it’s easy for a teacher to move on before students are ready or to belabor a concept students mastered days ago.

When students are able to self-assess, they take control of their learning and realize when they need to ask more questions or spend more time working on a concept. Self-assessment that is relayed back to the teacher, either formally or informally, helps the teacher get a better idea of where students are at with their learning.

Another benefit of self-assessment is that students tend to take more ownership and find more value in their learning, according to a study out of Duquesne University. According to the study, formative assessments like self-assessment “give students the means, motive, and opportunity to take control of their own learning.” When teachers give students those opportunities, they empower their students and help turn them into active, rather than passive learners.

Self-assessment also helps students practice learning independently, which is a key skill for life, and especially for students who are pursuing higher education.

How to execute self assessment

To truly make this part of your classroom, you’ll need to explain to students what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and you’ll need to hold them accountable for their self assessment. The following steps can help you successfully set up self-assessment in your classroom.

Step 1: Explain what self-assessment is and why it’s important

Sometimes teachers have a tendency to surprise students with what’s coming next or to not explain the reasoning behind a teaching strategy or decision. While this is often done out of a desire for control and power as the leader of the classroom, it doesn’t do much to help students and their learning.

If students don’t understand why they’re doing what they’re doing, they usually won’t do it at all, or will just to the bare minimum to go through the motions and get the grade. If students don’t understand the purpose of a learning strategy, they often see it as busy work. Most students are very used to being assessed only by their teachers, so they may not understand why they’re suddenly being asked to take stock of their own learning.

Make sure you take the time to explain why you’re implementing this new learning strategy and how it is going to directly benefit them. That explanation is going to vary based on the age of your students and other factors, but you can give students some variation of the explanation of why self-assessment works above.

Step 2: Always show a model

As you scroll down, you’ll see that we give you some examples of ways to use self assessment; each time you try one of these new techniques, be sure to create an exemplar model for your students. If you want this to work, students need to know what the goal that they’re working toward looks like.

Depending on the type of self-assessment you’re working with, a simple model might be enough, or students might need to practice with the work of others. A low stakes way to start this out is with examples from past students. Pull out an old project from years past and have students assess the project as if it were their own.

Once students learn how to be respectful and constructive with this peer assessment, they can practice with the peers in their class. Including this step often makes it easier for students to assess their own work. It can be hard to look back at your own work or thought process, especially if not much time has passed since you did the work.

Step 3: Teach students different strategies of self-assessment

We all learn best by doing, so rather than just giving students a list of self-assessment strategies, take your time walking through different strategies together. Also remember that the strategy that works best for Jimmy might not work well for Susan, so the more you can diversify self-assessment for your students, the more students you’re going to be able to reach.

Try starting with just one type of self assessment, give students time to master that type, then add another type. As time goes on, you can offer students choice in the type of self-assessment they want to use.

Step 4: Practice

Before you ask students to actively assess their own work, let them practice with some low stakes examples. It’s hard for many people to critique themselves and to recognize they have room for improvement, yet it’s essential.

Give students some examples of work from past students (names always removed) and walk through “self” assessment with those examples together as a class.

Step 5: Create a way to hold students accountable

Self-assessment shouldn’t always be tied to a grade, but students will catch on quickly if you’re not somehow holding them accountable. There are many ways to do this, for example:

• Conference with each student throughout the process
• Make self-assessment part of the final grade for a project or unit
• Create a self-assessment reward chart

The important thing to remember with holding students accountable for their self-assessment is that you should be holding them accountable for doing the self-assessment, but not for what they do or don’t know, nor for the changes they make based on their self-assessment.

Step 6: Don’t stop

Sometimes we have a tendency to try a strategy once or twice and then let it slide as the school year goes on, but as students learn that they’re no longer being held accountable, they will stop. You can’t ever assume a student will keep using a strategy unless you give them explicit instructions and hold them accountable.

Remember that as with anything, students will get better at self-assessment the more they practice it. The more you explicitly assign self-assessment, the more it will become a normal part of the learning process.

Examples of self assessment

Remember that it’s good to use a variety of self-assessment strategies so all students have a chance to find a style that works best for them. Any time you introduce a new strategy or assign self-assessment, be very clear about what students should do and how they should do it.

The strategies we suggest are broken down by age, but always use your best judgment regarding which strategies will be best for your students.

KWL chart: Before starting a lesson or unit, have students write or say what they already know (K) and what they want to know (W) about the topic. After the lesson or unit, they write or say what they learned (L). This can easily evolve into larger discussions and assignments.

Goals: At the end of each lesson, day, week, etc. students write one learning goal they would like to achieve. This can be very open-ended, or it could be very focused, asking students to reflect on one specific subject or topic. You can expand on this by having students return to their goal to see if they met it, encouraging them to ask for help if they haven’t met their goal.

Red, yellow, green: Give each student three circles: one red, one yellow, and one green. Throughout the school day, students place their red circle on their desk if they’re lost or confused, yellow if they’re struggling a little bit, and green if they understand, and they’re good to go. You can also stop to have students check their understanding by asking them to hold up a color. Some students feel shy about admitting they’re confused, so this strategy can also work really well if you have students place their heads down before holding up their circle.

Objective check: In the morning, give students a list of objectives you will cover in school today. Have each student write down an objective they would really like to learn today. At the end of the day, students return to the objective and determine whether they learned it or not.

Tricky spots: Work with students to identify where they struggle (for example, “I have trouble with word problems in math,” or “I have trouble spelling new words”). When starting a new lesson or unit, have each student identify one tricky spot they want to focus on. Be sure to check in with students often on their tricky spot to make sure they are making progress and not getting frustrated.

Highlighting: Have students go back to a writing assignment, worksheet, or project and highlight the section that they think was their best work. As an extension, have them explain why this was their best work. This is an excellent strategy to use with students who struggle or lack confidence in their work.

Self reflection: After a speech or presentation, have students write down three things they did well and one thing they can improve on. Extend this by returning to these during the next speech or presentation; you could even make them part of the rubric for the next assignment.

Exit tickets: Before students can leave the room, they must fill out an exit ticket and hand it to the teacher. You might ask them to write one thing they learned today and one thing they want to learn tomorrow, for example.

Think, pair, share: Pose a reflective question or prompt to students, for example you might tell them to think about or even write down the most important thing they learned in class today. Next, have them pair with a partner or small group to discuss their answer to the question or prompt, and finally, have students report back to the whole class.

Grades 9-12

Rubrics: Before completing a project, give students the rubric you will use to grade their effort. Have students complete a draft of the project and assess themselves using the rubric. After they do this, you might conference with them, give them feedback, or have them complete a reflective assignment. Then, have students complete a second draft that they will turn in for their grade (or to continue to work and improve upon).

Writing conferences: After students write an outline or first draft of an essay, hold an individual conference with each student. Before you provide your input, have students identify the strengths and weaknesses of their work. Use their self assessment as the guide of what you discuss during the conference. You might even find that students are more critical of themselves than you would have been.

Empty rubrics: At the beginning of a project, leave a space on the rubric empty. Help each student fill in the empty spot with something they need to work on, whether it’s something that they’re already good at and want to get even better or it’s something they struggle with and want to get better at.

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• Discover Your Learning Style – Comprehensive Guide on Different Learning Styles
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15 Self-Assessment Examples for Students

Dave Cornell (PhD)

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Self-assessment is when we analyze our own behavior. It is a way for us to understand how we are doing at something.

People who self-assess will examine their current level of performance on a given dimension in order to see how they can improve.

We can compare our performance to a known standard or our own set of goals. That evaluation will enable us to identify our strengths and weaknesses, and help us chart a path of progress.

Self-assessment can be applied in just about any context. For example, we can assess our level of fitness, how we perform during a job interview, or if we are easy to work with, or not.

Definition of Self-Assessment

Brown and Harris (2013, p. 368) defined self-assessment in a school context as a “descriptive and evaluative act carried out by the student concerning his or her own work and academic abilities” . 

Making a judgment regarding our own abilities is easier said than done. If we want to know the truth, then we need an objective assessment.

That’s not easy to do when it comes to our own performance, because:

• Some people may have a positive bias about their abilities and give themselves high ratings when that might not be deserved.
• Other people are very critical of themselves and may be overly harsh.  

Ideally, evaluations should come from professionals with a lot of training and experience. However, that’s not always convenient and it can also be expensive. So, although self-assessments are not ideal, they are very practical.

Student Self-Assessment Examples

1. keeping a diary.

If you’re not sure how to self-assess, the first step could be to keep a diary of what you’ve been doing. This is a form of personal reflection that allows you to pause and assess your progress.

There are also some great self-assessment diaries out there, such as the various reflective teaching diaries, that provide prompting questions such as “what is your mood right now?” and “what’s something you did that you were proud of today?”

These moments of self-reflection also act as moments of self-assessment . While you reflect, you also pause to assess your actions and what you could have done differently to change outcomes next time. In this process, you can learn to more effectively self-regulate and incrementally improve.

2. Self-Reflection After a Meeting

None of us want to be labeled as “difficult” or “lazy”. So, after a meeting, it is a good idea to take a few moments and reflect on how we did. Were we attentive? Did we participate enough, or did we talk too much? Were we argumentative and unreasonable, or did we make constructive comments?

One of the most difficult challenges of work is getting along with colleagues. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone wants to pursue their own agenda.

In addition to that, everyone has a different personality. Some of those personalities might be difficult to deal with, day in and day out.

So, understanding how we are to work with is important.

Work consumes most of our lives. Having a successful career is essential to so many other aspects of our happiness. Therefore, reflecting on how we act in meetings can go a long way to helping us be more respectful and conciliatory.

See More: Self-Reflection Examples

3. Recording Your Presentation at Work

One form of self-assessment that can be extremely valuable is to record our presentations. It can be a sales pitch or product proposal, or just about anything else. There is probably no better way to evaluate our performance than recording it.

We can make observations about our intonation and rate of speech, in addition to our posture and any odd mannerisms we might exhibit. Of course, we can ask a trusted colleague to watch and give us a few insights as well.

Surprisingly, based on some research findings, there may not always be agreement between our self-assessment and what our peers think (Campbell et al., 2001).  

4. Filming your Sports Performance

In the same way that you can record a business presentation, you can also record yourself participating in sports to watch it back.

In fact, professional sportspeople and their coaches like tennis players, football players, and baseball batters will all film themselves to see how they performed.

They might be looking at their stance in tennis to see if they’ve got the right posture. In baseball, they may be looking at the position of the shoulders and elbows when the batter swings his bat. These observations can help shape a sportsperson’s self-concept so they have a realistic idea of their abilities.

By watching their actions, the sportspeople can assess their own actions and see themselves from a new perspective. It gives them the opportunity to see things about their actions that they couldn’t see in the moment.

5. Tracking Your Gym Workouts

Recording your daily workouts at the gym is another form of self-assessment. This will help you assess your current status and also help you become aware of your rate of progress.

Back in the old days, people used to carry clipboards around with them at the gym. After finishing each set, they would write down how much weight they lifted and the number of reps. It was also a good excuse to take a breather.

Of course, in this century, there’s an APP for that. Instead of using a paper worksheet and wooden pencil that was made by killing trees and destroys the environment, you can use an electronic version on your smartphone that was made with rare earth minerals and child labor.  

6. Tracking Personal Growth 

Personal growth is a long-term process. The goal is to make continuous progress over time. That can mean months or even years.

Over time, we can continuously make improvements in our sense of well-being, state of mind, or even our spirituality. 

Assessing your personal growth can be on any dimension of life you want. It can be about our sense of well-being, our level of knowledge, level of spirituality, or anything else that is deeply important to you.

First, you determine where you are now and where you want to be in the future. This will help you identify your goals and set targets. Make sure that your targets are realistic and feasible, and phrased in a way that is measurable. For example, don’t just say that you “want to learn more about history.” Instead, say that your goal is to take a university course or read two books on the Roman Empire.

Phrasing your personal growth goal in a concrete manner makes them easy to determine if they have been accomplished or not. Furthermore, when they are accomplished, you can see it, and this will help you build your own self-efficacy .

7. Using a Fitness App

There are so many fitness apps available today that you can find one, or a couple thousand, that will suit your needs just fine.

Generally speaking, these apps fall into one of three categories: nutrition, workout, and activity.

These apps will allow you to become more aware of your nutritional intake, chart your progress at the gym, or record how long and how far you walk or run. Fitness apps are a great way to assess if you are making progress on any of these health dimensions, or if you are just maintaining the status quo .

It’s an example of elf-assessment in the palm of your hand.

8. Participating in a Mock Job Interview

Before going into a job interview, people will often practice in a mock interview to self-assess their performance in order to improve before the big event!

Job interviews can be a bit stressful. There is a lot riding on your performance, especially if it is for a job that you really want. Plus, you only have one shot. If you fail the first interview, you will not get called back for another.

Many universities have career centers that offer students an opportunity to receive valuable coaching regarding their job interview performance. This involves going through a mock interview with an experienced professional.

Afterward, the coach and student will discuss the results together. Participating in a mock interview is a fantastic way to assess your strengths and weaknesses, and just might help you land a great job.

9. Comparing Your Work with Others  

One of the best ways to know how good you are is by comparing your performance with others. This is a kind of self-assessment by way of social comparison.

For example, after spending a ton of time on an essay, it is easy to be so immersed in it that you lose objectivity. You may think that you have really nailed it. However, instead of waiting to get the essay back from your teacher, it is a good idea to see an example of a paper that was already completed and evaluated as being very good.

You can then compare and contrast that essay with yours . Maybe the literature review in the really good essay went into much more detail than you thought was necessary. Or, maybe it contained charts and graphs that yours did not.

This form of self-assessment can be very informative.

10. Hiring a Life Coach

A life coach is an expert on helping people get the most out of their lives. A life coach can help someone improve their career, romantic relationship, or even offer advice on how to handle day-do-day affairs.

Every life coach is different, but generally speaking they will construct a very holistic assessment of a client by conducting in-depth conversations with them and maybe even make direct observations over an extended period of time. This will give them enough information to make suggestions and provide guidance. They will even take their services one step further and help the client implement those changes.  

So, if you are looking for a comprehensive assessment of your life, something that is also very practical and forward-looking, then a life coach may be exactly what you need.

11. Career Aptitude Test  

A career aptitude test is a simple questionnaire that asks about your interests, values, skills, and personality characteristics. It then uses that data to identify different careers that would be a good match to your profile.

It is a great self-assessment tool that can offer some career guidance. You can discover which professions are most suited to your unique profile. The results can be surprising. You just might discover that people like you do very well in a certain job you would have never considered before.

These sorts of self-assessments are often given to students graduating from high school. High school students are at a phase in their life where a decision about what sort of career they want to do is at the front of mind. So, it’s the perfect time to take one of these tests.

12. Taking the Big Five Personality Traits Inventory

A personality trait is a consistent way that a person acts and feels. The Big Five personality traits are considered to be the most commonly occurring. They consist of: extroversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness , and neuroticism. Everyone has these 5 traits to one degree or another.

Research has investigated how these traits relate to an incredibly wide range of subject matter, from leadership style to quality of romantic relationships and everything in between. Not only are the Big Five consistent across diverse cultures, but they have considerable stability across the lifespan as well (Rantanen et al., 2007).

Fortunately, there are many versions of this inventory available online. Most have reasonable reliability and validity. So, if you wish to conduct a personality self-assessment, there are many options to choose from.

13. Using a Wellness Wheel

A Wellness Wheel is a form of self-assessment that examines all aspects of our life. Most wheels include seven dimensions: spiritual, emotional, professional, intellectual, social, physical, and environmental.

Wellness wheels are very popular because they can provide a snapshot of our current status from a broad perspective.

By examining the status of our life on these seven dimensions, we can increase our self-awareness . If that analysis leads to the conclusion that we need change, then the wellness wheel will show us wear to focus most of our effort.

The Wellness Wheel is an example of a very holistic approach to self-assessment. It doesn’t require a trained professional either, and many versions are available online.

14. Metacognitive Strategies

Metacognition refers to the act of thinking about thinking. It requires you to reflect on how you went about a task and identify pros, cons, and alternatives to the way you went about the task.

For example, if you had just had an argument with a friend, metacognition might involve reflecting on how you lost your cool and started saying things you regretted. You can think about why you followed that thought path, and how you might have been able to de-fuse the situation in the future.

Another example is reflecting on your own learning style. You may have tried to study for a test using reading, leading to a poor test score. Upon reflection, you may realize you were getting very tired when reading; and as a result, next time you are going to try to study by watching lecture videos instead of reading.

15. Taking a Myers-Briggs Test

A Myers-Briggs test is a personality test that can help you to understand your own personality and the personalities of others.

The test assesses you against 16 different personality types, and each type has its own strengths and weaknesses.

The Myers-Briggs test can help you to find out your own personality type, and it can also be used to improve communication and team work by understanding the different strengths and weaknesses of each personality type.

Thus, while the tool is doing the assessment, by self-administering this test, you’re actually self-evaluating in order to learn more about yourself and how you interact with the people around you.

Self-assessment can help us get a better handle on where we are in life or in our profession. Examining our status quo can help us identify our strengths and the areas that we should try to improve.

Self-assessment comes in many forms. It can include modern technology such as fitness apps, or old-school tech like making a video recording. There are also forms that don’t involve any technology at all. Hiring a real live person to be your life coach may be a bit pricey, but it is a long-term strategy that can be personal and totally centered on your needs.

No matter your preference or goals, there are many self-assessment methods available.

Andrade HL (2019) A Critical Review of Research on Student Self-Assessment. Frontiers in Education, 4(87). https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2019.00087

Brown, G. T., and Harris, L. R. (2013). Student self-assessment. In J. H. McMillan (Ed.), Sage Handbook of Research on Classroom Assessment , pp. 367-393. Los Angeles, CA: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452218649.n21

Campbell, K. S., Mothersbaugh, D. L., Brammer, C., & Taylor, T. (2001). Peer versus self- assessment of oral business presentation performance. Business Communication Quarterly , 64 (3). https://doi.org/10.1177/108056990106400303

John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big-Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (Vol. 2, pp. 102–138). New York: Guilford Press.

Muntaner-Mas, A., Martinez-Nicolas, A., Lavie, C.J. et al. (2019). A systematic review of fitness apps and their potential clinical and sports utility for objective and remote assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness. Sports Medicine, 49 , 587–600. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01084-y

Rantanen, J., Metsäpelto, R. L., Feldt, T., Pulkkinen, L. E. A., & Kokko, K. (2007). Long‐term stability in the Big Five personality traits in adulthood. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology , 48 (6), 511-518. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2007.00609.x

Dr. Cornell has worked in education for more than 20 years. His work has involved designing teacher certification for Trinity College in London and in-service training for state governments in the United States. He has trained kindergarten teachers in 8 countries and helped businessmen and women open baby centers and kindergartens in 3 countries.

• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 15 Theory of Planned Behavior Examples
• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 18 Adaptive Behavior Examples
• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 15 Cooperative Play Examples
• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 15 Parallel Play Examples

Chris Drew (PhD)

This article was peer-reviewed and edited by Chris Drew (PhD). The review process on Helpful Professor involves having a PhD level expert fact check, edit, and contribute to articles. Reviewers ensure all content reflects expert academic consensus and is backed up with reference to academic studies. Dr. Drew has published over 20 academic articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education and holds a PhD in Education from ACU.

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 15 Theory of Planned Behavior Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 18 Adaptive Behavior Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 15 Cooperative Play Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 15 Parallel Play Examples

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Center for Teaching

Bloom’s taxonomy.

Background Information | The Original Taxonomy | The Revised Taxonomy | Why Use Bloom’s Taxonomy? | Further Information

The above graphic is released under a Creative Commons Attribution license. You’re free to share, reproduce, or otherwise use it, as long as you attribute it to the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. For a higher resolution version, visit our Flickr account and look for the “Download this photo” icon.

Background Information

In 1956, Benjamin Bloom with collaborators Max Englehart, Edward Furst, Walter Hill, and David Krathwohl published a framework for categorizing educational goals: Taxonomy of Educational Objectives . Familiarly known as Bloom’s Taxonomy , this framework has been applied by generations of K-12 teachers and college instructors in their teaching.

The framework elaborated by Bloom and his collaborators consisted of six major categories: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. The categories after Knowledge were presented as “skills and abilities,” with the understanding that knowledge was the necessary precondition for putting these skills and abilities into practice.

While each category contained subcategories, all lying along a continuum from simple to complex and concrete to abstract, the taxonomy is popularly remembered according to the six main categories.

The Original Taxonomy (1956)

Here are the authors’ brief explanations of these main categories in from the appendix of Taxonomy of Educational Objectives ( Handbook One , pp. 201-207):

• Knowledge “involves the recall of specifics and universals, the recall of methods and processes, or the recall of a pattern, structure, or setting.”
• Comprehension “refers to a type of understanding or apprehension such that the individual knows what is being communicated and can make use of the material or idea being communicated without necessarily relating it to other material or seeing its fullest implications.”
• Application refers to the “use of abstractions in particular and concrete situations.”
• Analysis represents the “breakdown of a communication into its constituent elements or parts such that the relative hierarchy of ideas is made clear and/or the relations between ideas expressed are made explicit.”
• Synthesis involves the “putting together of elements and parts so as to form a whole.”
• Evaluation engenders “judgments about the value of material and methods for given purposes.”

The 1984 edition of Handbook One is available in the CFT Library in Calhoun 116. See its ACORN record for call number and availability.

Barbara Gross Davis, in the “Asking Questions” chapter of Tools for Teaching , also provides examples of questions corresponding to the six categories. This chapter is not available in the online version of the book, but Tools for Teaching is available in the CFT Library. See its ACORN record for call number and availability.

The Revised Taxonomy (2001)

A group of cognitive psychologists, curriculum theorists and instructional researchers, and testing and assessment specialists published in 2001 a revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy with the title A Taxonomy for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment . This title draws attention away from the somewhat static notion of “educational objectives” (in Bloom’s original title) and points to a more dynamic conception of classification.

The authors of the revised taxonomy underscore this dynamism, using verbs and gerunds to label their categories and subcategories (rather than the nouns of the original taxonomy). These “action words” describe the cognitive processes by which thinkers encounter and work with knowledge:

• Recognizing
• Interpreting
• Exemplifying
• Classifying
• Summarizing
• Implementing
• Differentiating
• Attributing

In the revised taxonomy, knowledge is at the basis of these six cognitive processes, but its authors created a separate taxonomy of the types of knowledge used in cognition:

• Knowledge of terminology
• Knowledge of specific details and elements
• Knowledge of classifications and categories
• Knowledge of principles and generalizations
• Knowledge of theories, models, and structures
• Knowledge of subject-specific skills and algorithms
• Knowledge of subject-specific techniques and methods
• Knowledge of criteria for determining when to use appropriate procedures
• Strategic Knowledge
• Knowledge about cognitive tasks, including appropriate contextual and conditional knowledge
• Self-knowledge

Mary Forehand from the University of Georgia provides a guide to the revised version giving a brief summary of the revised taxonomy and a helpful table of the six cognitive processes and four types of knowledge.

Why Use Bloom’s Taxonomy?

The authors of the revised taxonomy suggest a multi-layered answer to this question, to which the author of this teaching guide has added some clarifying points:

• Objectives (learning goals) are important to establish in a pedagogical interchange so that teachers and students alike understand the purpose of that interchange.
• Organizing objectives helps to clarify objectives for themselves and for students.
• “plan and deliver appropriate instruction”;
• “design valid assessment tasks and strategies”;and
• “ensure that instruction and assessment are aligned with the objectives.”

Citations are from A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives .

Further Information

Section III of A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives , entitled “The Taxonomy in Use,” provides over 150 pages of examples of applications of the taxonomy. Although these examples are from the K-12 setting, they are easily adaptable to the university setting.

Section IV, “The Taxonomy in Perspective,” provides information about 19 alternative frameworks to Bloom’s Taxonomy, and discusses the relationship of these alternative frameworks to the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy.

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Wilson College Online Blog

Benefits and examples of student self-assessments, written by: wilson college   •  jan 18, 2024.

Benefits and Examples of Student Self-Assessments ¶

Studies suggest that student self-assessments can help students perform better. A study published in the online journal Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education found that when students evaluate themselves and receive feedback, their grades improve. Feedback literacy means being able to understand and use feedback to improve learning.

Proper student self-assessment goes beyond simple self-rating or guesswork. It involves students evaluating their own work against specific criteria. Then, they can reflect on and judge their performance based on objective and select benchmarks.

The application of self-assessment can vary. Examples of student self-assessment range from using learning logs and reflective journals to rubrics self-assessments. Teachers need to understand how student self-assessment helps students learn so they can properly guide them and advance their educational development. 

What Is Student Self-Assessment? ¶

Student self-assessment is an approach that students can apply to gauge how they’re doing in school. This can be accomplished by checking their own work, performance, behavior, as well as understanding what they’ve learned and what they still need to learn. This encourages students to take ownership of their learning and fosters accountability. Examples of student self-assessment activities can include establishing goals, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and setting plans for improvement.

Effective self-assessment means consistently showing students how to think about their own learning through the entire learning process. Insights gained from the self-assessment process can help improve their achievement. Teachers play a critical role in regularly making the process clear to students and removing obstacles for productive self-assessments.

Why Is Student Self-Assessment Important? ¶

Student self-assessment is important for several reasons. It encourages independent learning, enhances learning outcomes, and can potentially reduce teachers’ workloads. It also helps students understand what they are learning and the reasons why they are learning about a particular subject. This understanding is a key to educational growth and helps provide a clear path to follow in their ongoing growth journey. 

Student-self assessment also promotes metacognition, which means understanding one’s own thought processes. This helps improve cognitive functions, including problem solving, learning, and decision making.

What Are the Benefits of Student Self-Assessment? ¶

Student self-assessment boosts motivation and engagement by empowering students to take control of their learning. Active involvement in assessing their progress increases their investment in education. 

Numerous studies highlight the positive impact of student self-assessment. For instance, a study in the International Journal of Educational Research revealed marked enhancement in writing skills among students who use rubrics compared to those who did not.

Additional examples of student self-assessment benefits include the following.

• Students can evaluate knowledge and learning processes.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills can be improved.
• It champions a growth mindset for viewing challenges as opportunities.

Student self-assessment not only benefits students themselves, it provides valuable feedback to educators. This helps teachers gain insights into students’ understanding, strengths, and weaknesses. It also promotes a supportive and inclusive learning environment, as students feel that their perspectives and voices are valued.

7 Examples of Student Self-Assessments ¶

For teachers, discovering effective self-assessment strategies, processes, and tools in collaboration with students is an ongoing journey that demands time and patience. Here are seven examples of student self-assessments.

1. Learning Log ¶

A learning log serves as a personal journal for students to record their thoughts, questions, and experiences on their educational journey. It encourages deep self-awareness, helping students track their growth, identify strengths and weaknesses, and gain insights into their learning patterns. By updating their learning log regularly, students take ownership of their learning, fostering a deeper understanding of their academic development and promoting accountability.

2. Reflective Journals ¶

Reflective journals prompt students to write about their learning experiences, challenges, and achievements, including personal reflections, emotions, and opinions. Such journals encourage deep reflection and enhance self-awareness. Reflective logs, however, differ from learning logs by being more open-ended and less focused on objective data. Journaling in an online format can also be beneficial. It can open versatile reflective tools for students in the form of documents, videos, or audio, fostering richer learning experiences and improved outcomes.

3. Goal Setting ¶

Students can set specific goals that are measurable, achievable, relevant, and timebound (SMART) within their learning logs or reflective journals. Examples of student self-assessment SMART goals can include improving academic performance—more specifically, a student can say: “I will increase my grade from a B+ to an A next marking period.” 

Another example of goal setting can include working to increase class participation—for example, establishing a promise to participate in school at least 3 times every day. This approach provides students with clear roadmaps for their learning journey and fosters a sense of accountability.

4. Rubric Self-Assessment ¶

Rubrics can aid in the self-assessment process. This helps students identify areas for improvement and take ownership of their learning process, providing a clear framework to evaluate their own work and gain an understanding of high-quality performance. 

Commonly used rubric types in schools include holistic rubrics (an overall performance assessment) and analytic rubrics (a breakdown of performance into separate elements). Another type, developmental rubrics, measure growth along a proficiency scale from novice to expert. Assessment rubrics help students proactively self-assess their work against predefined criteria.

5. Questionnaires or Surveys ¶

Students can regularly fill out self-assessment questionnaires or surveys to reflect on their learning experiences, as well as identify strengths, weaknesses, and improvement opportunities. Examples of student self-assessment questions can include: What did you learn today? Did you try your best on your assignment? Answers to these types of questions can help students set action plans for continuous improvement.

6. Self-Reflection Worksheets ¶

Self-reflection worksheets enable students to reflect on the breadth of their learning experiences, identify areas for improvement, and develop action plans to address those areas. Including action plans in these worksheets empowers students to take tangible steps toward enhancing their abilities, turning self-awareness into a catalyst for growth and development. 

7. Exit Tickets ¶

Exit tickets are brief assessments or reflections completed by students at the end of a lesson or class session. They help educators gauge student comprehension, identify areas that need further attention, and tailor future lessons accordingly. Exit tickets also encourage students to reflect on their learning and provide valuable feedback to the teacher.

Become A Transformative Educator ¶

Despite the noted benefits of student self-assessment, putting forward new strategies into practice can come with challenges. If you are looking to incorporate teaching strategies to better connect with students and help improve learning outcomes, an advanced degree in education can prepare you with essential skills to become a transformative educator.

Wilson College Online offers a Master of Education (MEd) degree , covering subjects such as differentiated instruction, best practices, and technology integration. This program hones teaching skills through both research and classroom practices. It also offers educators the flexibility to continue teaching in their current district, thanks to the program’s asynchronous self-paced model.

Discover how the Wilson College Online Master of Education degree can empower you to further impact the lives of students.

Recommended Readings

Pros and Cons of Education Apps for Toddlers

Special Education Teacher Salary and Career Overview

Tips for Building an Engaging Special Education Classroom

ASCD, “How to Provide Better Feedback Through Rubrics”

Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, “Self-assessment is About More Than Self: The Enabling Role of Feedback Literacy”

EducationWeek, “Rubric Do’s & Don’ts”

Edutopia, “Teaching Students to Assess Their Learning”

E-Learning Heroes, “Using Learning Journals in E-Learning #344”

International Journal of Educational Research Open, “Examining the Impact of Self-assessment with the Use of Rubrics on Primary School Students’ Performance”

Kami, “How to Use SMART Goals for Your Students”

NWEA, “2 Types of Student Goal Setting that Empower Early Learners”

NWEA, “Proof That Student Self-Assessment Moves Learning Forward”

ProProfs, “Self-Assessment for Students: The Ultimate Guide”

Recent Articles

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Learn more about the benefits of receiving your degree from wilson college online.

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Teach. learn. grow. the education blog.

75 digital tools and apps teachers can use to support formative assessment in the classroom

There is no shortage of  formative assessment strategies, techniques, and tools  available to teachers who use formative instructional practice in their classrooms. Here is an extensive list of 75 digital tools, apps, and platforms that can help you and your students use formative assessment to elicit evidence of learning. We didn’t just add any old tool to this list. Here are the criteria we used for those that made the cut:

• Supports formative instructional strategies and ways to activate learners to be resources for themselves and peers
• Is free or awful close to it (under $10 per year, where possible)
• Allows both students and teachers to take the activator role when possible (sometimes teachers need to get things started)

Before you dig into the tools, I encourage you to spend some time thinking about exactly what you want to accomplish with your students.  “How to pick the right digital tool: Start with your learning goal”  by Erin Beard can help you wrap your head around goals and guide you in choosing the best tool for the task.  “27 easy formative assessment strategies for gathering evidence of student learning”  can help you decide what strategies work best for you and your students.

Record audio and video

• Animoto  Gives students the ability to make a 30-second video of what they learned in a lesson.
• AudioNote  A combination of a voice recorder and notepad, it captures both audio and notes for student collaboration.
• Edpuzzle  Helps you use video (your own, or one from Khan Academy, YouTube, and more) to track student understanding.
• Flip  Lets students use 15-second to 5-minute videos to respond to prompts. Teachers and peers can provide feedback.
• QuickVoice Recorder  Allows you to record classes, discussions, or audio for projects. Sync your recordings to your computer easily for use in presentations.
• Vocaroo  Creates audio recordings without the need for software. Embed the recording into slideshows, presentations, or websites.
• WeVideo  Lets you use video creatively to engage students in learning. Teachers and students alike can make videos.

Create quizzes, polls, and surveys

• Crowdsignal  Lets you create online polls, quizzes, and questions. Students can use smartphones, tablets, and computers to provide their answers, and information can be culled for reports.
• Edulastic  Allows you to make standards-aligned assessments and get instant feedback.
• FreeOnlineSurveys  Helps you create surveys, quizzes, forms, and polls.
• Gimkit  Lets you write real-time quizzes. And it was designed by a high school student!
• Google Forms  Part of the Google suite, Google Forms lets you create quizzes, polls, and surveys and see answers in real time.
• Kahoot!  A game-based classroom response system that lets you create quizzes using internet content.
• MicroPoll  Helps you create polls, embed them into websites, and analyze responses.
• Naiku  Lets you write quizzes students can answer using their mobile devices.
• Poll Everywhere  Lets you create a feedback poll or ask questions and see results in real time. Allows students to respond in various ways. With open-ended questions, you can capture data and spin up tag clouds to aggregate responses.
• Poll Maker  Offers unique features, like allowing multiple answers to one question.
• ProProfs  Helps you make quizzes, polls, and surveys.
• Quia  Lets you create games, quizzes, surveys, and more. Access a database of existing quizzes from other educators.
• Quizalize  Helps you create quizzes and homework.
• Quizizz  Guides you through designing quizzes and lets you include students in the quiz-writing process.
• Quizlet  Lets you make flashcards, tests, quizzes, and study games that are mobile friendly.
• Quizmaker  Helps you write quizzes quickly and easily.
• Survey Hero  Designed to build questionnaires and surveys.
• SurveyMonkey  Helpful for online polls and surveys.
• SurveyPlanet  Also helpful for online polls and surveys.
• Zoho Survey  Allows you to make mobile-friendly surveys and see results in real time.

Brainstorm, mind map, and collaborate

• AnswerGarden  A tool for online brainstorming and collaboration.
• Coggle  A mind-mapping tool designed to help you understand student thinking.
• Conceptboard  Software that facilitates team collaboration in a visual format, similar to mind mapping but using visual and text inputs.
• Dotstorming  A whiteboard app that allows digital sticky notes to be posted and voted on. This tool is best for generating class discussion and brainstorming on different topics and questions.
• Educreations Whiteboard  A whiteboard app that lets students share what they know.
• iBrainstorm  Lets students collaborate on projects using a stylus or their finger.
• Miro  Allows whole-class collaboration in real time.
• Padlet  Provides a blank canvas for students to create and design collaborative projects.
• ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard  Another whiteboard tool to check understanding.
• XMind  Mind-mapping software for use on desktop computers and laptops.
• Equity Maps  These discussion maps can help you ensure every student has a chance to share their ideas.

Present, engage, and inspire

• BrainPOP  Lets you use prerecorded videos on countless topics to shape your lesson plan, then use quizzes to see what stuck.
• Buncee  Helps students and teachers visualize, communicate, and engage with classroom concepts.
• Five Card Flickr  Uses the tag feature from photos in Flickr to foster visual thinking.
• PlayPosit  Allows you to add formative assessment features to a video from a library or popular sites, such as YouTube and Vimeo, to survey what students know about a topic.
• RabbleBrowser  Allows a leader to facilitate a collaborative browsing experience.
• Random Name/Word Picker  Facilitates random name picking. You can also add a list of keywords and use the tool to prompt students to guess words by providing definitions.
• Socrative  Uses exercises and games to engage students with a topic.
• Adobe Express  Lets you add graphics and visuals to exit tickets.
• Typeform  Helps you add graphical elements to polls.

Generate word or tag clouds

• EdWordle  Generates word clouds from any entered text to help aggregate responses and facilitate discussion. Word clouds are pictures composed of a cloud of smaller words that form a clue to the topic.
• Tagxedo  Allows you to examine student consensus and facilitate dialogues.
• Wordables  Helps you elicit evidence of learning or determine background knowledge about a topic.
• WordArt  Includes a feature that allows the user to make each word an active link to connect to websites, including YouTube.

Get real-time feedback

• Formative  Lets you assign activities, receive results in real time, and provide immediate feedback.
• GoSoapBox  Works with the bring-your-own-device model and includes an especially intriguing feature: a confusion meter.
• IXL  Breaks down options by grade level and content area.
• Kaizena  Gives students real-time feedback on work they upload. You can use a highlighter or give verbal feedback. You can also attach resources.
• Mentimeter  Allows you to use mobile phones or tablets to vote on any question a teacher asks, increasing student engagement.
• Pear Deck  Lets you plan and build interactive presentations that students can participate in via their smart device. It also offers unique question types.
• Plickers  Allows you to collect real-time formative assessment data without the need for student devices.
• Quick Key  Helps you with accurate marking, instant grading, and immediate feedback.

Foster family communication  

• Remind  Lets you text students and stay in touch with families.
• Seesaw  Helps you improve family communication and makes formative assessment easy, while students can use the platform to document their learning.
• Voxer  Lets you send recordings so families can hear how their students are doing, students can chat about their work, and you can provide feedback.

Strengthen teacher-to-student or student-to-student communication

• AnswerGarden  Gives you access to formative assessment feedback.
• Biblionasium  Lets you view books students have read, create reading challenges, and track progress. Students can also review and recommend books to their peers.
• Classkick  Helps you post assignments for students, and both you and your students’ peers can provide feedback. Students can also monitor their progress and work.
• TeacherEase Rubrics . This paid tool can help you ensure your rubrics are clear and accurate.
• Lino  A virtual cork board of sticky notes, it lets students ask questions or make comments on their learning.
• Online Stopwatch  Provides dozens of themed digital classroom timers to use during small- and whole-group discussions.
• Peergrade  Helps you create assignments and upload rubrics. You can also anonymously assign peer review work. Students can upload and review work using the corresponding rubric.
• Verso  Lets you set up learning using a URL. Space is provided for directions. Students can add their assignment, post comments, and respond to comments. You can group responses and check engagement levels.
• VoiceThread  Allows you to create and share conversations on documents, diagrams, videos, pictures, and more.

Keep the conversation going with live chats

• Yo Teach  A backchannel site great for keeping the conversation going with students.
• Chatzy  Supports live, online chats in a private setting.

Create and store documents or assignments

• Google Drive  Google Drive allows you to create documents students can collaborate on in real time using smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
• Piazza  Lets you upload lectures, assignments, and homework; pose and respond to student questions; and poll students about class content. This tool is better suited for older students as it mimics post-secondary class instructional formats.

There are several resources for learning more about formative assessment and responsive instruction strategies. Consider our  formative practices workshops , where school and district teams can gain a better understanding of the role formative practice plays in instruction and the four foundational practices to use in the classroom. Or for a quick start, download our eBook  “Making it work: How formative assessment can supercharge your practice.”

Jump in, try new tools and methods, and have fun!

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MAP Growth 101: Everything families need to know

27 easy formative assessment strategies for gathering evidence of student learning

Making it work: How formative assessment can supercharge your practice

Formative assessment isn’t new. But as our education system changes, our approaches to any instructional strategy must evolve. Learn how to put formative assessment to work in your classroom.

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40 Philosophy of Education Examples, Plus How To Write Your Own

Learn how to define and share your teaching philosophy.

These days, it’s become common for educators to be asked what their personal teaching philosophy is. Whether it’s for a job interview, a college class, or to share with your principal, crafting a philosophy of education can seem like a daunting task. So set aside some time to consider your own teaching philosophy (we’ll walk you through it), and be sure to look at philosophy of education examples from others (we’ve got those too!).

What is a philosophy of education?

Before we dive into the examples, it’s important to understand the purpose of a philosophy of education. This statement will provide an explanation of your teaching values and beliefs. Your teaching philosophy is ultimately a combination of the methods you studied in college and any professional experiences you’ve learned from since. It incorporates your own experiences (negative or positive) in education.

Many teachers have two versions of their teaching philosophy: a long form (a page or so of text) and a short form. The longer form is useful for job application cover letters or to include as part of your teacher portfolio. The short form distills the longer philosophy into a couple of succinct sentences that you can use to answer teacher job interview questions or even share with parents.

What’s the best teaching philosophy?

Here’s one key thing to remember: There’s no one right answer to “What’s your teaching philosophy?” Every teacher’s will be a little bit different, depending on their own teaching style, experiences, and expectations. And many teachers find that their philosophies change over time, as they learn and grow in their careers.

When someone asks for your philosophy of education, what they really want to know is that you’ve given thought to how you prepare lessons and interact with students in and out of the classroom. They’re interested in finding out what you expect from your students and from yourself, and how you’ll apply those expectations. And they want to hear examples of how you put your teaching philosophy into action.

What’s included in strong teaching philosophy examples?

Depending on who you ask, a philosophy of education statement can include a variety of values, beliefs, and information. As you build your own teaching philosophy statement, consider these aspects, and write down your answers to the questions.

Purpose of Education (Core Beliefs)

What do you believe is the purpose of teaching and learning? Why does education matter to today’s children? How will time spent in your classroom help prepare them for the future?

Use your answers to draft the opening statement of your philosophy of education, like these:

• Education isn’t just about what students learn, but about learning how to learn.
• A good education prepares students to be productive and empathetic members of society.
• Teachers help students embrace new information and new ways of seeing the world around them.
• A strong education with a focus on fundamentals ensures students can take on any challenges that come their way.
• I believe education is key to empowering today’s youth, so they’ll feel confident in their future careers, relationships, and duties as members of their community.
• Well-educated students are open-minded, welcoming the opinions of others and knowing how to evaluate information critically and carefully.

Teaching Style and Practices

Do you believe in student-led learning, or do you like to use the Socratic method instead? Is your classroom a place for quiet concentration or sociable collaboration? Do you focus on play-based learning, hands-on practice, debate and discussion, problem-solving, or project-based learning? All teachers use a mix of teaching practices and styles, of course, but there are some you’re likely more comfortable with than others. Possible examples:

• I frequently use project-based learning in my classrooms because I believe it helps make learning more relevant to my students. When students work together to address real-world problems, they use their [subject] knowledge and skills and develop communication and critical thinking abilities too.
• Play-based learning is a big part of my teaching philosophy. Kids who learn through play have more authentic experiences, exploring and discovering the world naturally in ways that make the process more engaging and likely to make a lasting impact.
• In my classroom, technology is key. I believe in teaching students how to use today’s technology in responsible ways, embracing new possibilities and using technology as a tool, not a crutch.
• While I believe in trying new teaching methods, I also find that traditional learning activities can still be effective. My teaching is mainly a mix of lecture, Socratic seminar, and small-group discussions.
• I’m a big believer in formative assessment , taking every opportunity to measure my students’ understanding and progress. I use tools like exit tickets and Kahoot! quizzes, and watch my students closely to see if they’re engaged and on track.
• Group work and discussions play a major role in my instructional style. Students who learn to work cooperatively at a young age are better equipped to succeed in school, in their future careers, and in their communities.

Students and Learning Styles

Why is it important to recognize all learning styles? How do you accommodate different learning styles in your classroom? What are your beliefs on diversity, equity, and inclusion? How do you ensure every student in your classroom receives the same opportunities to learn? How do you expect students to behave, and how do you measure success?

Sample teaching philosophy statements about students might sound like this:

• Every student has their own unique talents, skills, challenges, and background. By getting to know my students as individuals, I can help them find the learning styles that work best for them, now and throughout their education.
• I find that motivated students learn best. They’re more engaged in the classroom and more diligent when working alone. I work to motivate students by making learning relevant, meaningful, and enjoyable.
• We must give every student equal opportunities to learn and grow. Not all students have the same support outside the classroom. So as a teacher, I try to help bridge gaps when I see them and give struggling students a chance to succeed academically.
• I believe every student has their own story and deserves a chance to create and share it. I encourage my students to approach learning as individuals, and I know I’m succeeding when they show a real interest in showing up and learning more every day.
• In my classroom, students take responsibility for their own success. I help them craft their own learning goals, then encourage them to evaluate their progress honestly and ask for help when they need it.
• To me, the best classrooms are those that are the most diverse. Students learn to recognize and respect each other’s differences, celebrating what each brings to the community. They also have the opportunity to find common ground, sometimes in ways that surprise them.

How do I write my philosophy of education?

Think back to any essay you’ve ever written and follow a similar format. Write in the present tense; your philosophy isn’t aspirational, it’s something you already live and follow. This is true even if you’re applying for your first teaching job. Your philosophy is informed by your student teaching, internships, and other teaching experiences.

Lead with your core beliefs about teaching and learning. These beliefs should be reflected throughout the rest of your teaching philosophy statement.

Then, explain your teaching style and practices, being sure to include concrete examples of how you put those practices into action. Transition into your beliefs about students and learning styles, with more examples. Explain why you believe in these teaching and learning styles, and how you’ve seen them work in your experiences.

A long-form philosophy of education statement usually takes a few paragraphs (not generally more than a page or two). From that long-form philosophy, highlight a few key statements and phrases and use them to sum up your teaching philosophy in a couple of well-crafted sentences for your short-form teaching philosophy.

Still feeling overwhelmed? Try answering these three key questions:

• Why do you teach?
• What are your favorite, tried-and-true methods for teaching and learning?
• How do you help students of all abilities and backgrounds learn?

If you can answer those three questions, you can write your teaching philosophy!

Short Philosophy of Education Examples

We asked real educators in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook to share their teaching philosophy examples in a few sentences . Here’s what they had to say:

I am always trying to turn my students into self-sufficient learners who use their resources to figure it out instead of resorting to just asking someone for the answers. —Amy J.

My philosophy is that all students can learn. Good educators meet all students’ differentiated learning needs to help all students meet their maximum learning potential. —Lisa B.

I believe that all students are unique and need a teacher that caters to their individual needs in a safe and stimulating environment. I want to create a classroom where students can flourish and explore to reach their full potential. My goal is also to create a warm, loving environment, so students feel safe to take risks and express themselves. —Valerie T.

In my classroom, I like to focus on the student-teacher relationships/one-on-one interactions. Flexibility is a must, and I’ve learned that you do the best you can with the students you have for however long you have them in your class. —Elizabeth Y

I want to prepare my students to be able to get along without me and take ownership of their learning. I have implemented a growth mindset. —Kirk H.

My teaching philosophy is centered around seeing the whole student and allowing the student to use their whole self to direct their own learning. As a secondary teacher, I also believe strongly in exposing all students to the same core content of my subject so that they have equal opportunities for careers and other experiences dependent upon that content in the future. —Jacky B.

All children learn best when learning is hands-on. This works for the high students and the low students too, even the ones in between. I teach by creating experiences, not giving information. —Jessica R.

As teachers, it’s our job to foster creativity. In order to do that, it’s important for me to embrace the mistakes of my students, create a learning environment that allows them to feel comfortable enough to take chances, and try new methods. —Chelsie L.

I believe that every child can learn and deserves the best, well-trained teacher possible who has high expectations for them. I differentiate all my lessons and include all learning modalities. —Amy S.

All students can learn and want to learn. It is my job to meet them where they are and move them forward. —Holli A.

I believe learning comes from making sense of chaos. My job is to design work that will allow students to process, explore, and discuss concepts to own the learning. I need to be part of the process to guide and challenge perceptions. —Shelly G.

I want my students to know that they are valued members of our classroom community, and I want to teach each of them what they need to continue to grow in my classroom. —Doreen G.

Teach to every child’s passion and encourage a joy for and love of education and school. —Iris B.

I believe in creating a classroom culture of learning through mistakes and overcoming obstacles through teamwork. —Jenn B.

It’s our job to introduce our kids to many, many different things and help them find what they excel in and what they don’t. Then nurture their excellence and help them figure out how to compensate for their problem areas. That way, they will become happy, successful adults. —Haley T.

Longer Philosophy of Education Examples

Looking for longer teaching philosophy examples? Check out these selections from experienced teachers of all ages and grades.

• Learning To Wear the Big Shoes: One Step at a Time
• Nellie Edge: My Kindergarten Teaching Philosophy
• Faculty Focus: My Philosophy of Teaching
• Robinson Elementary School: My Teaching Philosophy
• David Orace Kelly: Philosophy of Education
• Explorations in Higher Education: My Teaching Philosophy Statement
• University of Washington Medical School Faculty Teaching Philosophy Statements

Do you have any philosophy of education examples? Share them in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE Group on Facebook!

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Resource library.

• Establishing Community Agreements and Classroom Norms
• Sample group work rubric
• Problem-Based Learning Clearinghouse of Activities, University of Delaware

Problem-Based Learning

Problem-based learning  (PBL) is a student-centered approach in which students learn about a subject by working in groups to solve an open-ended problem. This problem is what drives the motivation and the learning. 

Why Use Problem-Based Learning?

Nilson (2010) lists the following learning outcomes that are associated with PBL. A well-designed PBL project provides students with the opportunity to develop skills related to:

• Working in teams.
• Managing projects and holding leadership roles.
• Oral and written communication.
• Self-awareness and evaluation of group processes.
• Working independently.
• Critical thinking and analysis.
• Explaining concepts.
• Self-directed learning.
• Applying course content to real-world examples.
• Researching and information literacy.
• Problem solving across disciplines.

Considerations for Using Problem-Based Learning

Rather than teaching relevant material and subsequently having students apply the knowledge to solve problems, the problem is presented first. PBL assignments can be short, or they can be more involved and take a whole semester. PBL is often group-oriented, so it is beneficial to set aside classroom time to prepare students to   work in groups  and to allow them to engage in their PBL project.

Students generally must:

• Examine and define the problem.
• Explore what they already know about underlying issues related to it.
• Determine what they need to learn and where they can acquire the information and tools necessary to solve the problem.
• Evaluate possible ways to solve the problem.
• Solve the problem.
• Report on their findings.

Getting Started with Problem-Based Learning

• Articulate the learning outcomes of the project. What do you want students to know or be able to do as a result of participating in the assignment?
• Create the problem. Ideally, this will be a real-world situation that resembles something students may encounter in their future careers or lives. Cases are often the basis of PBL activities. Previously developed PBL activities can be found online through the University of Delaware’s PBL Clearinghouse of Activities .
• Establish ground rules at the beginning to prepare students to work effectively in groups.
• Introduce students to group processes and do some warm up exercises to allow them to practice assessing both their own work and that of their peers.
• Consider having students take on different roles or divide up the work up amongst themselves. Alternatively, the project might require students to assume various perspectives, such as those of government officials, local business owners, etc.
• Establish how you will evaluate and assess the assignment. Consider making the self and peer assessments a part of the assignment grade.

Nilson, L. B. (2010).  Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors  (2nd ed.).  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 

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