Judging own work helped students use study strategies a bit and feel more capable.

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   19 studies with 2,305 students, from primary school to university. The average age was about 18, and about 70 percent were female.

2. 02

   What they did

   Students judged the quality of their own work, for example by keeping a log, marking their own work or using a checklist. Some also got feedback and then revised their work. The other groups did not do this.

3. 03

   What happened

   Students who judged their own work gained a little in study strategies and a lot in feeling capable. Two other measures showed no clear gain, and some numbers in the paper do not match. Tests hint that some weak studies are missing, so the feeling-capable gain is less certain.

What the review found

1. HelpedOther outcomes

   Students who judged their own work used study strategies a bit more than students who did not.

   • Action: Reflect on how you performedtested

   Pooled analysis of 12 studies with 369 people · vs students who did not judge their own work · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

2. HelpedMotivation

   Students who judged their own work felt much more capable than other students, though the gain is less certain.

   • Action: Reflect on how you performedtested

   Pooled analysis of 27 studies · vs students who did not judge their own work · they rated themselves · ⚠ signs that small negative studies went unpublished; whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study

Source