Monday, November 5, 2012

Reaction to self-grading tests

I believe that self-grading tests can be beneficial if used the right way and with limited use. If using a self-graded test, students can go back to the questions they got wrong and learn the right answer. However, this can't be done on every test because students will just simply guess the answer knowing that afterward, they can go back and correct it. Now, if the students will receive the first grade as their final grade, and they can't receive points back when self-correcting it, then I believe that's okay each time. Self-grading can also reduce some test anxiety knowing that YOU, yourself, are the one grading it, not the teacher. This is only the case, however, if the student is the only one finding the correct answer. Students shouldn't work every time together on correcting it. Other students can be a resource, but if every student is just using the student's work who got every answer right, students aren't really learning the material and how they got the answer wrong.
In my Special Education classroom, I will use self-grading tests. I believe that it is another learning strategy that could be very beneficial to a student with a learning disability. However, I will make sure that I only use it a few times, if I am the one giving the exam, and I will make sure that the students receive several resources to help them find the answer. I believe this is also a great teachable moment because students can learn ways to take exams, that work best for them, and they can learn to not cheat because they are the ones  grading the exam. They could easily erase their answer, and pencil in the correct answer. Overall, I believe self-grading tests have several benefits but when used in moderation.

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