This is a new monthly column for the Academy Newsletter. The goal is to share a small idea or low-stakes practice that everyone can try out whether in a classroom setting or other learning context. Remember that all current Academy members have free access to the e-Faculty Guidebook through the Member’s site!
STRATEGY: Using Grade Estimation
FROM: 3.1.9 Creating Meaningful Assessment and Documentation Systems
“Grade Estimation—When students turn in an assignment or a test, ask them to estimate their grades and to provide a rationale for their estimates. It is important that students recognize what they do and do not know. Give credit for accurate estimates that provide good rationales.”
WHY? When we aren’t able to at least somewhat accurately determine how well we performed at something like an assignment or test, it is likely that we are laboring under a cognitive bias that leads us to BELIEVE we either did better or worse than was actually the case. Confronting that bias (which is a failure of metacognition) is critical. If we believe we did well but our performance shows otherwise, then we won’t understand what it is we have to learn or how to improve. If we believe we did poorly but actually performed well, we won’t appreciate that we have a stable foundation on which to build and further improve our performance. A recent blog post from Pacific Crest goes into greater detail about this.