Chapter 14 page 317
Teachers can productively direct groups as well as individuals to engage in goal setting and self-
evaluation (Chinn, Duschl, Duncan, Pluta, Buckland et al., 2008; Y. Sharan & Sharan, 1992; Webb &
Farivar, 1994). Learning scientists Barbara White and John Frederiksen (1998) studied classes in which
students learned about physics (forces and motion) as they worked in groups with computer simulations
and hands-on experiments. Half of the classes were randomly assigned to a condition in which students
self-evaluated their work and their classmates’ work according to how well they achieved nine strategic
goals, including the two goals presented in Figure 14.2 (being systematic; writing and communicating
well). Other goals included being inventive (i.e., using strategies to generate creative ideas), reasoning
carefully about evidence and explanations, and using good teamwork strategies. Although the researchers
initially provided the goals, the students collectively made suggestions to refine and improve the goals; thus,
the students were also involved with goal setting. The researchers found that students who participated in
these processes of goal-setting and evaluation outperformed students who did not. The benefits of self-
evaluation extended both to tests of reasoning and tests of physics knowledge. The students who benefited
the most from the self-evaluation activities were lower-performing students. This finding is in line with our
conclusion in Chapter 7 that lower-performing students are often poorer at monitoring their work than high-
performing students. Self-evaluation criteria help low-performing students monitor their strategy use more
effectively, bringing them closer to the level of their peers who have learned to self-monitor on their own.
Figure 14.1 Student goal sheet for goal setting and evaluation in a persuasive essayName: ________________________ Period: _____WRITING GOALS
BEFORE YOUR ESSAY:How many arguments will you include in your essay?How many counterarguments will you discuss in your essay?AFTER YOU WRITE YOUR ESSAY:On your final draft, underline your arguments in green ink, and underline
the counterarguments you discussed in red ink.How many arguments did you include in your essay?How many counterarguments did you discuss in your essay?