Self-assessment of knowledge in Higher Education

Blackwood, Tony (2009) Self-assessment of knowledge in Higher Education. EMERGE, 1. pp. 41-45.

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Abstract

An appreciation of the extent of one’s knowledge has been referred to as metaknowledge and if well developed, this can help students to develop effective learning strategies. Accurate self-assessment can highlight gaps in knowledge and prompt initiatives to address these deficiencies. However previous studies suggest that metaknowledge tends to be poorly developed and the most common finding is that individuals tend to display overconfidence in their knowledge, by overestimating how much they know. This research addresses learning in a higher education environment and focuses specifically on students studying at a large UK business school. It aims to determine their ability to appreciate the extent of their knowledge in the context of their learning programme and to explore the relationship between this ability and academic performance. The study takes a quantitative approach, employing a research instrument incorporating a multiple choice test related to the participants’ study programme and an accompanying questionnaire. Having completed data collection, the next stage in the research is to analyse this data to determine whether and the extent to which, respondents display overconfidence in their assessment of their own knowledge. Individual differences in respect of age, gender and nationality will also be explored as well as the association between the ability to accurately self assess knowledgeand academic performance.

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