Assessing Self-Evaluation in A Science Methods Course: Power, Agency, Authority and Learning

Source: Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 25, Issue 5, pages 758-766 (July 2009).

Students' reactions to the intersection between ongoing experiences in the university classroom and student teaching constitute the formative component of learning assessment called self-assessment. Student reactions, captured via file cards and reflective journals, constituted evidence for final self-evaluation, the summative component of self-assessment.
The implementation of a self-evaluation protocol in a science methods course provided the focus for a descriptive and interpretive study. In this study, Foucault and feminist theories of power and knowledge provided the analytical structure for examination of themes of surveillance, discipline structure, and criticality. These themes must be examined if self-evaluation is to support people learning to teach.