from The Power of the Pursuit, Suzanne Crawford, Lydia Alvarez, and Lynn Serwin (Cerritos College)

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Two Versions of a Student Self-Assessment Survey, Suzanne Crawford

Surveys mapping student progress in using more effective and detailed language in writing:

2006 survey:

Hello English 20 Students!

As you all know, we have been working this semester to, among other things, improve your word choice when it comes to using more concrete and specific language (the “green” words). Please give me some of your thoughts about your progress with this skill by answering the following questions. Thank you very much.

S. Crawford

1. Do you feel that, as a result of our various efforts, you are more likely to use such better words?

For example, do you see the value in writing like the first of these (A) and not the second (B)?

A. The boy sat down on a chair.

B. Tall, slim Joe plopped himself down on the old wooden rocking chair.

Do you think the various handouts we used were helpful?

Do you think using the markers helped you understand this concept better?

2007 survey:

ENGLISH 52: Self-assessment of your writing progress

Describe what progress you have made this semester in your ability to craft effective essays. Please use specific evidence from your papers to describe your writing improvement. Consider comparing the skill levels of your earlier papers with those of your later papers. In particular, please note any improvement in language use. Do you now, for example, use more vivid or concrete words? Be sure to support your points with direct references from your papers. For example, if you claim that you now use more specific words, give before and after examples.

From David Reynolds (West Hills): “Helping Students Read Difficult Text”

ASSESSMENT of READING – Before helping my students read difficult text, I first had to know what, how and when they read. There are many Reading Inventories available and I chose to give my students the WestEd Reading Apprenticeship Student Reading Survey.

I needed to know…

What my students physically and mentally do when they actually read

Preconceived ideas as to what they believe makes a successful reader

What are the kinds and frequency of books they read

Do they socially share their reading experiences, and

What interests them in their reading.

Examining answers on a Reading Inventory helps me spot troublesome or unusual responses about their reading habits and thinking. Erroneous beliefs about their own reading skills need to be thought through, talked about, corrected and revised in their own minds if positive feelings about success in reading are going to be achieved.

From Pat Wagener, Can Problem Solving Become a Habit of Mind?

Pat says:

Students’ own perceptions of their math skills and abilities are often considered as anecdotal evidence, rather than factual information that has been quantified. In a meeting at the start of the Fall 2006 semester, this subject came up, and it occurred to me that this need not be the case. So I asked myself:

“Can students’ perception of their math skills and abilities be quantified, and measured with an acceptable level of statistical significance?”

And then,

“What is the research question that would enable me to answer this question?”

At first I thought to just have students assess their math skills in general. But then as I continued to think about this project, I realized it was important to know as much as possible about their self-assessment in connection with all the elements of the course: Multiple representation of mathematics, group work, solving word problems, computer aided instruction, and students making presentations of their solutions. And so I ended up with eight (8) areas for the students to assess.

A means to address this study was an attempt to quantify and measure each student’s self-assessed confidence learn in eight (8) specific areas or aspects of math and how they learn math. A survey would be given to the students early in the semester (pre-) and late in the semester (post-) to determine the change. These areas are as follows:

With this method, I found that the anecdotal can become “factual” with a high degree confidence. Here are two key insights:

(1) Students’ self-perception changed very significantly in all questions (p-value<<0.01).

(2) An area of the greatest change (and most positive comments) was in the role of student presentations and self-confidence.

Click here to get a copy of the confidence survey and read more details about the method and results.

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