Self-assessment accuracy over time, the role of general feedback and performance in higher education

To improve performance, students need to be effective self-regulated learners. They should know what their abilities are, monitor their progress, and determine
the next steps in learning. Self-assessment is a promising instructional strategy to support students in this. This study explored self-assessment (accuracy) in
relation to practice testing in an 8-week quantitative methods course at a first-year undergraduate university level (N = 1336). At the end of each week, an initial
multiple-choice practice test took place in which students also estimated the number of items answered correctly. Feedback involved their score, the correct
answers alongside references to the study material, and a general statement that overconfident students would benefit from participating in repeated practice
testing. Students could opt for repeated practice testing the same content (with different test items) until the initial practice test on the next week’s course
content. Exploratory correlational analyses replicate the robust testing-effect by confirming that both singular practice testing and repeated practice testing relate positively to end-of-course performance. Regarding the self-assessment effects, we found minor evidence for the expectation that initially overconfident students would be more likely to participate in repeated practice testing. Additionally, we expected that self-assessment accuracy would develop positively over time, which did not appear to be the case. Also, self-assessment accuracy was not related to end-of-course performance. In the EARLI symposium, we aim to focus on implications for self-assessment practice, for example, by discussing the relevance of personalized feedback and student agency in choosing the content of practice tests and self-assessment.