Balancing Reflection and Validity in Health Profession Students’ Self-Assessment
Abstract
Students and practitioners in self-regulating health professions are expected to engage in reflective, valid self-assessment activities. However, self-assessment processes can be flawed. People may have a limited understanding of the critical thinking needed to reflect on their performance and they may over-estimate or under-estimate their abilities. This article highlights educational approaches that can help students achieve a balance of reflecting critically and developing more accurate self-assessments. Considerations involved in defining self-assessment are identified. Explanations of how integrating reflection requires critical thinking; information from both internal and external sources; and incidental learning are provided. Suggestions for addressing validity by recognizing that inaccuracies exist; knowing that people’s history with academic success can impact their self-assessments; and creating links to affective outcomes are offered. Emphasis is placed on viewing self-assessment as a formative learning activity that is introduced early and consistently in health education programs.  Â
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Andrade, H., & Valtcheva, A. (2009). Promoting learning and achievement through self-assessment. Theory into Practice, 48(1), 12-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00405840802577544.
Asadoorian, J. & Batty, H. (2005). An evidence-based model of effective self-assessment for directing professional learning. Journal of Dental Education, 69(12), 1315-1323. http://www.jdentaled.org/content/69/12/1315.full
Austin, Z. & Gregory, P. (2007). Evaluating the accuracy of pharmacy students’ self-assessment skills. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 71(5), 1–8.
Baxter, P., & Norman, G. (2011). Self-Assessment or self-deception? A negative association between self-assessment and performance. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 67(11), 2406–2413. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05658.x
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139-148.
Blanch-Hartigan, D. (2011). Medical students’ self-assessment of performance: Results from three meta-analyses. Patient Education and Counseling, 84(1), 3 – 9. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2010.06.037
Boud, D. (1991). HERDSA Green Guide No 5. Implementing student self-assessment (Second ed.). Campbelltown: The Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA).
Boud, D. (1995). Enhancing learning through self-assessment. London. Routledge Falmer.
Boud, D. & Falchikov, N. (1989). Quantitative studies of self-assessment in higher education: A critical analysis of findings. Higher Education, 18, 529-549.
Boud, D. & Falchikov, N. (2006). Aligning assessment with long-term learning. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 31, 399–413. DOI:10.1080/02602930600679050. http://www.jhsph.edu/departments/population-family-and-reproductive-health/_docs/teaching-resources/cla-01-aligning-assessment-with-long-term-learning.pdf
Bourke, R. (2016). Liberating the learner through self-assessment. Cambridge Journal of Education, 46(1), 97-111. DOI: 10.1080/0305764X.2015.1015963
Brookfield, S. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Brookfield, S. (1998). Critically reflective practice. Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 18, 197–205. DOI:10.1002/chp.1340180402
Brown, G. T. L., & Harris, L. R. (2013). Student self-assessment. In J. H. McMillan (Ed.). The SAGE handbook of research on classroom assessment (pp. 367-393). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Butler, R. (2011). Are positive illusions about academic competence always adaptive, under all circumstances: New results and future directions. International Journal of Educational Research, 50(4), 251-256. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijer.2011.08.006
Colthart, I., Bagnall, G., Evans, A., Allbutt, H., Haig, A., Illing, J. & McKinstry, B. (2008). The effectiveness of self-assessment on the identification of learning needs, learner activity, and impact on clinical practice: BEME Guide No. 10. Medical Teacher, 30,124–145.
Constantinou, M., & Kuys, S. (2013). Physiotherapy students find guided journals useful to develop reflective thinking and practice during their first clinical placement: A qualitative study. Physiotherapy, 99(1), 49–55. DOI:10.1016/j.physio.2011.12.002
Dabbagh, N., & Kitsantas, A. (2012). Personal learning environments, social media, and self-regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. Internet and Higher Education, 15(1), 3-8. DOI:10.1016/j.iheduc.2011.06.002
Davis, D., Mazmanian, P., Fordis, M., Van Harrison, R., Thorpe, K. et al. (2006). Accuracy of physician self-assessment compared with observed measures of competence: A systematic review. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 296(9), 1094–1102.
Desjarlais, M. & Smith, P. (2011). A comparative analysis of reflection and self-assessment. International Journal of Process Education, 3(1), 3-18. http://www.processeducation.org/ijpe/2011/reflectionh.pdf
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. New York: D.C. Heath and Company.
Dunning, D., Heath, C. & Suls, J. M. (2004). Flawed self-assessment: Implications for health, education, and the workplace. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5(3), 69-106. https://faculty-gsb.stanford.edu/heath/documents/PSPI%20-%20Biased%20Self%20Views.pdf
Ehrlinger, J., Johnson, K., Banner, M., Dunning, D. & Kruger, J. (2008). Why the unskilled are unaware: Further explorations of (absent) self-insight among the incompetent. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 105 (1), 98–121.doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2007.05.002 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2702783/
Eva, A. & Regehr, G. (2005). Self-assessment in the health professions: a reformulation and research agenda. Academic Medicine, 80(10 Suppl):S46-54.
Evans, A., McKenna, C. & Oliver, M. (2001). Towards better understanding of self-assessment in oral and maxillofacial surgery. Medical Education, 35(11),1077.
Falchikov, N. & Boud, D. (1989). Student self-assessment in higher education: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 59, 395–430.
Fitzgerald, J., White, C., & Gruppen, L. (2003). A longitudinal study of self-assessment accuracy. Medical Education, 37(7), 645-649.
Gadbury-Amyot, C., Woldt, J. Siruta-Austin, K. (2015). Self-assessment: A review of the literature and pedagogical strategies for its promotion in dental education. Journal of Dental Hygiene, 89(6), 357-364
Galbraith R., Hawkins, R. & Holmboe, E. (2008). Making self-assessment more effective. Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 28(1), 20–24.
Gordon, M.J. (1991). A review of the validity and accuracy of self-assessments in health professions training. Academic Medicine, 66, 762–769.
Gude, T., Finset, A. Anvik, T., Bærheim, A., Fasmer, O. et al. (2017). BMC Medical Education, 17,107.DOI 10.1186/s12909-017-0943-y
He, X., & Canty, A. (2013). A comparison of the efficacy of test-driven learning versus self-assessment learning. The Journal of Chiropractic Education, 27(2), 110–115. http://doi.org/10.7899/JCE-13-6
Hulsman, R. & van der Vloodt, J. (2015). Self-evaluation and peer-feedback of medical students’ communication skills using a web-based video annotation system. Exploring content and specificity, Patient Education and Counseling, 98(3), 356-363 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2014.11.007.
Johns, C. (2017). Becoming a reflective practitioner (5th Ed.). Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell
Kajander-Unkuri, S., Meretoja, R., Katajisto, J., Saarikoski, M., Salminen, L., et al. (2013). Self-assessed level of competence of graduating nursing students and factors related to it. Nurse Education Today, 34(5), 795 – 801.
Kanthan, R. & Senger, J. (2011). An appraisal of students' awareness of "self-reflection" in a first-year pathology course of undergraduate medical/dental education. BMC Medical Education, 11, 67. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-11-67
Kerka, S. (2000). Incidental learning. Trends and Issues Alert 18. Columbus OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career and Vocational Education. http://www.calpro-online.org/eric/docs/tia00086.pdf
Koh, Y., Wong, M. & Lee, J. (2014). Medical students’ reflective writing about a task-based learning experience on public health communication. Medical Teacher, 36(2), 121–9. DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2013.849329.
Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1121-1134. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10626367
Lew, M. & Schmidt, H. (2011). Self-reflection and academic performance: Is there a relationship? Advances in Health Sciences Education, 16(4), 529–545. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-011-9298-z
Linn, B., Arostegui, M. & Zeppa, R. (1975). Performance rating scale for peer and self assessment. British Journal of Medical Education, 9(2), 98–101.
Lundquist, L. M., Shogbon, A. O., Momary, K. M. & Rogers, H. K. (2013). A comparison of students’ self-assessments with faculty evaluations of their communication skills. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 77(4), 72. http://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe77472
Mann, K. (2010). Self-assessment: The complex process of determining “how we are doingâ€â€”A perspective from medical education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 9(2), 305–313.
Mann, K., Gordon, J. & MacLeod, A. (2009). Reflection and reflective practice in health professions education: A systematic review. Advances in Health Science Education, 14, 595–621. DOI 10.1007/s10459-007-9090-2
Marsick, V. & Watkins, K. (1990). Informal and incidental learning in the workplace. London & New York: Routledge.
Marsick, V. & Watkins, K. (2001). Informal and incidental learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 89, 25–34.
Melrose, S., Park, C. & Perry, B. (2015). Creative clinical teaching in the health professions. Retrieved from http://epub-fhd.athabascau.ca/clinical-teaching/
Mezirow, J. (1998). On critical reflection. Adult Education Quarterly, 48, 185-198. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/074171369804800305
Miller, P. (2008). Self-assessment: The disconnect between research and rhetoric. Physiotherapy Canada 60(2), 117–124. DOI: 10.3138/physio.60.2.117
Mort, J. & Hansen, D. (2010). First-year pharmacy students’ self-assessment of communication skills and the impact of video review. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 74(5), 1–7.
Motycka, C., Rose, R., Ried, D. & Brazeau, G. (2010). Self-assessment in pharmacy and health science education and professional practice. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 74 (5) Article 85.
Passi, V. & Southgate, L. (2016). Revisiting 'Performance rating scale for peer and self assessment'. Medical Education, 50(3),267-270. DOI: 10.1111/medu.12798
Pisklakov, S., Rimal, J. & McGuirt, S. (2014). Role of self-evaluation and self-assessment in medical student and resident education. British Journal of Education, Society and Behavioral Science, 4(1), 1–9.
Redwood, C., Winning, T. & Townsend, G. (2010). The missing link: Self-assessment and continuing professional development. Australian Dental Journal, 55, 15–19. DOI:10.1111/j.1834-7819.2009.01177.x http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1834-7819.2009.01177.x/full
Regehr, G. & Eva, K. (2006). Self-assessment, self-direction, and the self-regulating professional Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 449, 34–38. http://innovationlabs.com/r3p_public/rtr3/pre/pre-read/Self-assessment.Regher.Eva.2006.pdf
Sanderson, T., Kearney, R., Kissell, D. & Salisbury, J. (2016). Evaluating student self-assessment through video-recorded patient simulations. Journal of Dental Hygiene, 90(4), 257-262.
Sargeant J. (2008). Toward a common understanding of self-assessment. Journal of Continuing Education in Health Professions. 28, 1–4. DOI: 10.1002/chp.148. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18366124
Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. London: Temple Smith.
Sitzmann, T., Ely, K., Brown, K. & Bauer, K. (2010). Self-assessment of knowledge: A cognitive learning or affective measure? Academy of Management Learning & Education, 9(2), 169-191.
Sujata, B., Oliveras, E. & Edson, W. (2001). How can self-assessment improve the quality of healthcare? Operations Research Issue Paper 2(4). Published for the U.S. Agency for International Development(USAID) by the Quality Assurance (QA)Project, Chevy Chase, MD and JHPIEGO Corporation, Baltimore, MD.
Tulgar, A. (2017). Selfie@ssessment as an alternative form of self-assessment at undergraduate level in higher education. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 13(1), 321-335.
Volino, L. & Das, R. (2014). Video review in self-assessment of pharmacy students’ communication skills. Journal of Education and Learning, 3(4), 26-36. doi:10.5539/jel.v3n4p26. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jel.v3n4p26
Ward, M., Gruppen, L. & Regehr, G. (2002). Measuring self-assessment: Current state of the art. Advances in Health Sciences Education Theory and Practice, 7, 63–80.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
e-ISSN: 1694-2116
p-ISSN: 1694-2493