Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Measuring Self-assessment: Current State of the Art

  • Published:
Advances in Health Sciences Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The competent physician pursues lifelong learning through the recognition of deficiencies and the formulation of appropriate learning goals. Despite the accepted theoretical value of self-assessment, studies have consistently shown that the accuracy of self-assessment is poor. This paper examines the methodological issues that plague the measurement of self-assessment ability and presents several strategies that address these methodological problems within the current paradigm. In addition, the article proposes an alternative conceptualization of self-assessment and describes its associated methods. The conclusions of prior research in this domain must be re-examined in light of the common pitfalls encountered in the design of the studies and the analyses of the data. Future efforts to elucidate self-assessment phenomena need to consider the implications of this review.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abrams, R.G. & Kelley, M.L. (1974). Student self-evaluation in a pediatric-operative technique course. Journal of Dental Education 38: 385–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antonelli, M.A.S. (1997). Accuracy of second-year medical students' self-assessment of clinical skills. Academic Medicine 72(10 Supplement 1): S63–S65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, L., Willoughby, T.L. & Calkins, E.V. (1985). Self-evaluation in undergraduate medical education: A longitudinal perspective. Journal of Medical Education 60: 21–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bem, D.J. & Funder, D.C. (1974). Predicting more of the people more of the time: assessing the personality of situations. Psychological Review 8: 506–520.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergee, M.J. (1997). Relationships among faculty, peer, and self-evaluations of applied performances. Journal of Research in Music Education 45: 601–612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, J.B. (1971). Another look at counselor, client, and supervisor ratings of counselor effectiveness. Counselor Education and Supervision 10: 319–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Block, J. (1978). The Q Sort Method in Personality Assessment and Psychiatric Research. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boud, D.J., Churches, A.E. & Smith, E.M. (1986). Student self assessment in an engineering design course: An evaluation. International Journal of Applied Engineering Education 2(2): 83–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boud, D.J. & Tyree, A.L. (1979). Self and peer assessment in professional education: A preliminary study in law. Journal of the Society of Public Teachers of Law 15(1): 65–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke, R.J. (1969). Some preliminary data on the use of self-evaluations and peer-ratings in assigning university course grades. Journal of Educational Research 62(10): 444–4448.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calhoun, J.G., Ten Haken, J.D. & Wooliscroft, J.O. (1990). Medical students' development of self and peer assessment skills: a longitudinal study. Teaching and Learning in Medicine 2: 25–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calhoun, J.G., Wooliscroft, J.O., Ten Haken J.D., Wolf F.M. & Davis, W.K. (1988). Evaluating medical student clinical skill performance: Relationships among self, peer, and expert ratings. Evaluation & the Health Professions 11: 201–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiu, L.H. (1975). Influence of student teaching on perceived teaching competence. Perceptual and Motor Skills 40: 872–874.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cochran, S.B. & Spears, M.C. (1980). Student self-assessment and instructors' ratings: A comparison. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 76: 253–257.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coutts, L. & Rogers, J. (1999). Predictors of student self-assessment accuracy during a clinical performance exam: comparisons between over-estimators and under-estimators of SP-evaluated performance. Academic Medicine 74(10 Supplement): S128–S130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniel, S.J., Scruggs, R.R. & Grady, J.J. (1990). Accuracy of student self-evaluations of dental sealants. Journal of Dental Hygiene 64: 339–342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Das, M., Mpofu, D., Dunn, E. & Lanphear, J.H. (1998). Self and tutor evaluations in problem-based learning tutorials: Is there a relationship? Medical Education 32: 411–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D'Augelli, A.R. (1973). The assessment of interpersonal skills: A comparison of observer, peer and self ratings. Journal of Community Psychology 1: 177–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, J.K. & Rand, D.C. (1980). Self-grading versus instructor grading. Journal of Educational Research 73(4): 207–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doleys, E.J. & Renzaglia, G.A. (1963). Accuracy of student prediction of college grades. Personnel and Guidance Journal 41(6): 528–530.

    Google Scholar 

  • Everett, M.S. (1983). Influence of trait anxiety on self-grading. Educational Directions 8(1): 4–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falchikov, N. (1986). Product comparisons and process benefits of collaborative peer group and self assessments. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 11(2): 146–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falchikov, N. & Boud, D. (1989). Student self-assessment in higher education: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research 59: 395–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falchikov, N. & Goldfinch, J. (2000). Student peer assessment in higher education: A meta-analysis comparing peer and teacher marks. Review of Educational Research 70: 287–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farnill, D., Hayes, S.C. & Todisco, J. (1997) Interviewing skills: Self-evaluation by medical students. Medical Education 31: 122–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Filene, P.O. (1969). Self-grading: An experiment in learning. Journal of Higher Education 40: 451–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald, J.T., Gruppen, L.D. & White, C.B. (2000). The influence of task formats on the accuracy of medical students' self-assessments. Academic Medicine 75: 737–741.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forehand, L.S., Vann, W.F. & Shugars, D.A. (1982). Student self-evaluation in preclinical restorative dentistry. Journal of Dental Education 46(4): 221–226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuqua, D.R., Johnson, A.W., Newman, J.L., Anderson, M.W. & Gade, E.M. (1984). Variability across sources of performance ratings. Journal of Counselling Psychology 31(2): 249–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaier, E.L. (1961). Student self estimates of final course grades. Journal of Genetic Psychology 98: 63–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geissler, P.R. (1973). Student self-assessment in dental technology. Journal of Dental Education 37: 19–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, M.J. (1991). A review of the validity and accuracy of self-assessments in health professions training. Academic Medicine 66: 762–769.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, M.J. (1992). Self-assessment programs and their implications for health professions training. Academic Medicine 67: 672–679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, J.D. (1996). Global rating scales in residency education. Academic Medicine 71(1 Supplement): S55–S63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, T.G.F. (1987). An exercise in improving the potential of exams for learning. European Journal of Engineering Education 12(4): 311–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, D.G. (1978). Evaluation of music therapy practicum competencies: Comparisons of self and instructor ratings of videotapes. Journal of Music Therapy 15(1): 15–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gruppen, L.D., White, C., Fitzgerald, J.T., Grum, C.M. & Wooliscroft, J.O. (2000). Medical students' self-assessments and their allocations of learning time. Academic Medicine 75: 374–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruppen, L.D., Garcia, J., Grum, C.M., Fitzgerald, J.T., White, C.A., Dicken, L. et al. (1997). Medical students' self-assessment accuracy in communication skills. Academic Medicine 72(10 Supplement 1): S57–S59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruppen, L.D., Baliga, S., Fitzgerald, J.T. et al. (1998). Do personal characteristics influence self-assessment accuracy? In, Proceedings of the 8th International Ottawa Conference on Medical Education, pp. 304–309. Philadelphia, PA.

  • Harrington, J.P., Murnaghan, J.J. & Regehr, G. (1997). Applying a relative ranking model to the self-assessment of extended performances. Advances in Health Sciences Education 2: 17–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hay, J.A. (1995). Investigating the development of self-evaluation skills in problem-based tutorial course. Academic Medicine 70: 733–735.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henbest, R.J. & Fehrsen, G.S. (1985). Preliminary study at the medical university of Southern Africa on student self-assessment as a means of evaluation. Journal of Medical Education 60: 66–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herbert, W.N.P., McGaghie, W.C., Droegemueller, W., Riddle, M.H. & Maxwell, K.L. (1990). Student evaluation in obstetrics and gynecology: self versus departmental assessment. Obstetrics & Gynecology 76: 458–461.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodges, B., Regehr, G. & Martin D. (2001) Difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence: novice physicians who are unskilled and unaware of it. Academic Medicine; 76(10 Supplement): S87–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Irvine, J.J. (1983). The accuracy of pre-service teachers' assessments of their classroom behaviors. Journal of Research and Development in Education 17(1): 25–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Israelite, L. (1983). Adult student self-evaluation. Performance and Instruction Journal 22(5): 15–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D. & Cujec, B. (1998). Comparison of self, nurse, and physician assessment of residents rotating through an intensive care unit. Critical Care Medicine 26: 1811–1816.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser, S. & Bauer, J.J. (1995). Checklist self-evaluation in a standardized patient exercise. American Journal of Surgery 169: 418–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keefer, K.E. (1971). Characteristics of students who make accurate and inaccurate self-predictions of college achievement. Journal of Educational Research 64(9): 401–404.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kegel-Flom, P. (1975). Predicting supervisor, peer, and self ratings of intern performance. Journal of Medical Educcation 50: 812–815.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keynan, A., Friedman, M. & Benbassat, J. (1987). Reliability of global rating scales in the assessment of clinical competence of medical students. Medical Education 21: 477–481.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolm, P. & Verhulst, S.J. (1987). Comparing self and supervisor evaluations - a different view. Evaluation & the Health Professions 10: 80–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • LeBlanc, R. & Painchaud, G. (1985). Self assessment as a second language placement instrument. TESOL Quarterly 19(4): 673–687.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leichner, P. & Kalin, R. (1980). Results of the first Canadian psychiatric knowledge self assessment for residents. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 25(4): 281–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linn, B.S., Arostegui, M. & Zeppa, R. (1975). Performance rating scale for peer and self assessment. British Journal of Medical Education 9: 98–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linn, B.S., Arostegui, M. & Zeppa, R. (1976). Peer and self assessment in undergraduate surgery. Journal of Surgical Research 21: 453–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacFadyen, J. & Turnbull, J. (1985). Effect of curriculum on student self-assessment of communication skills. In Proceedings of the 6th Ottawa Conference of Medical Education and Assessment, pp. 153–154, Toronto, ON.

  • Mast, T.A. & Bethart, H. (1978). Evaluation of clinical dental procedures by senior dental students. Journal of Dental Education 42(4): 196–197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, D., Regehr, G., Hodges, B. & McNaughton, N. (1998). Using videotaped benchmarks to improve the self-assessment ability of family practice residents. Academic Medicine 73: 1201–1206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGeever, P.J. (1978). Student self-grading in the introductory American politics course. Teaching Political Science 5(3): 319–330.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mihal, W.L. & Graumenz, J.L. (1984). An assessment of the accuracy of self-assessment of career decision making. Journal of Vocational Behavior 25: 245–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, D.E. & Cordes, D.L. (1992). Needs assessment. In A.B. Rosof & W.C. Felch (eds.), Continuing Medical Education: A Primer, 2nd ed., pp. 42–51. Westport, CT: Praegar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton, J.B. & MacBeth, W.A. (1977). Correlations between staff, peer and self assessments of fourth-year students in surgery. Medical Education 11: 167–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mowrer, O.H. (1953). 'Q-technique' - description, history, and critique. In O.H. Mowrer (ed.), Psychotherapy Theory and Research, pp. 316–375. New York: Ronald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, R.H. (1970). Is self-grading the answer? Journal of Higher Education 41(3): 221–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murstein, B.I. (1965). The relationship of grade expectations and grades believed to be deserved to actual grades received. Journal of Experimental Education 33(4): 357–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Neill, G.P. (1985). Self, teacher, and faculty assessments of student teaching performance: A second scenario. Alberta Journal of Educational Research 31(2): 88–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, P.B., Henry, J.N. & Rohe, D.A. (1985). Effect of videotape replay on the quality and accuracy of student self-evaluation. Physical Therapy 65: 497–501.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pease, D. (1975). Comparing faculty and school supervisor ratings for education students. College Student Journal 9(1): 91–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pitishkin-Potanich, V. (1983). On evaluating students' knowledge. Higher Education in Europe 8(2): 18–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plorde, D.S., Wollitzer, A.O. & Blossom, H. J. (1985). A self-assessment questionnaire for patient educators. Journal of Medical Education 60: 728–730.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pohlmann, J.L. & Beggs, D.L. (1974). A study of the validity of self-reported measures of academic growth. Journal of Educational Measurement 12: 115–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Regehr, G., Hodges, B., Tiberius, R. & Lofchy, J. (1996). Measuring self-assessment skills: An innovative relative ranking model. Academic Medicine 71(10 Supplement): S52–S4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rezler, A.G. (1989). Self-assessment in problem-based groups. Medical Teacher 11: 151–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Risucci, D.A., Tortolani, A.J. & Ward, R.J. (1989). Ratings of surgical residents by self, supervisors, and peers. Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics 169: 519–526.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sclabassi, S.E. & Woelfel, S.K. (1984). Development of self-assessment skills in medical students. Medical Education 84: 226–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, J.A. & Jordan, R.K. (1999). Learner centred approaches in medical education. BMJ 318: 1280–1283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanton, H.E. (1978). Self-grading as an assessment method. Improving College and University Teaching 26: 236–238.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stover, R.V. (1976). The impact of self-grading on performance and evaluation in a constitutional law course. Teaching Political Science 3(3): 303–310.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuart, M.R., Goldstein, H.S. & Snope, F.C. (1980). Self-evaluation by residents in family medicine. Journal of Family Practrice 10: 639–642.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turnbull, J., Gray, J. & MacFadyen, J. (1998). Improving in-training evaluation programs. JGIM 13: 317–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, A.E. & Knoop, H.R. (1981). Self, teacher and faculty assessments of student teaching performance. Journal of Educational Research 75(3): 171–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wooliscroft, J.O., TenHaken, J., Smith, J. & Calhoun, J.G.. (1993) Medical students' clinical self-assessments: comparisons with external measures of performance and the students' selfassessments of overall performance and effort. Academic Medicine 68: 285–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zonia, S.C. & Stommel, M. (2000). Interns' self-evaluations compared with their faculty's evaluations. Academic Medicine 75: 742.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Mylène Ward

  2. Department of Medical Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    Larry Gruppen

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Glenn Regehr

Authors
  1. Mylène Ward
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Larry Gruppen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Glenn Regehr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Glenn Regehr.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ward, M., Gruppen, L. & Regehr, G. Measuring Self-assessment: Current State of the Art. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract 7, 63–80 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014585522084

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014585522084

Search

Navigation