The LEARN Project: Learners' Expectations of Assessment Requirements Nationally

Over 200 students of different ages (year 3 to year 13) were interviewed to gain insights into their perceptions of themselves as learners and their understanding of how they think they learn best. Learners’ motivation was influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors, but successful learners appeared to be more strategic in their approach. Most students had a good understanding of what they had to do for individual tasks but were less clear as to how these tasks fitted into the ‘big picture’ of the course. All learners were dependent on teacher set standards when assessing the quality of their work. There was little reported evidence of systematic self-assessment and few students recognised having the opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding of this skill. Students largely equated assessment with summative assessment and there was evidence that the pressures of external tests were significantly different between year groups. The quality of feedback was commented on critically by many students. The usefulness of different types of feedback was discussed and students identified ways that they felt feedback helped improve their performance.