Why Students Should Get a Personal Assessment before Joining a Tutoring Program

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There are a myriad of benefits students can take advantage of when getting a personal assessment. It makes students more aware of their learning, and empowers them to take their education into their own hands. Formative learning has been shown to be effective at introducing pupils to self-assessment concepts and systems.

As the student continues to learn and adapt, they will be able to apply a summative form of self-assessment. For instance, the proper learning and guidance may allow them to assess their own work in an unbiased and objectively critical manner.

Here, our focus will be on why students should get a personal assessment before they join a tutoring program. By doing so, students, tutors, teachers, and parents will all benefit.


The Purpose of Personal Assessments for Students

It may be hard for a layperson to determine what constitutes self-assessment and what does not. The matter is further complicated by the fact that many experts have used the term to describe a wide array of learning programs and activities.

Each of the aforementioned activities comprises an assessment of a student's self-functioning. However, the activities are so different that certain distinctions between the different forms of self-assessment will need to be made beforehand.


Why Students Should Get a Self-Assessment

Students will be asked to reflect on their level of expertise across a plethora of subjects. They will need to form an honest assessment of their skill and knowledge levels on many different and pertinent topics before they can proceed.

Having to make numerous comments on their own skill and knowledge levels may force students to step out of their comfort zone, but it is necessary for self-improvement and self-actualization.

Fortunately, self-assessments are typically easy to not only score, but construct. It should also be noted that accuracy will go up when the response options differentiate both levels and types of intelligence.


Different Types of Self-Assessments for Students

A benchmark assessment involves comparing a pupil's performance against a distinct set of criteria. The student is provided with a series of objectives that they will need to complete as they go through the course.

The tutor should check in on a routine basis to ensure that the student is progressing as planned. If you discover that the student is struggling with a certain topic, then you can provide them with more help and practice in order to help them meet the objective before moving on to the next one.

A formative assessment is essentially a form of continuous or perpetual assessment. The tutor will evaluate how the pupil is performing as they go through the course. Both learning and teaching will be carefully evaluated by the instructor.

Once the teacher has determined what the student's unique needs are, changes can be made to the curriculum. The goal is to adapt or modify the content of the course in order to meet the specific requirements of the student.

You may need to go back a few steps to review certain key concepts that the student may be struggling with. Conversely, you may need to shift gears and take things up a notch if the student is ahead of the curve.

Thus, advanced and remedial learning are just some of the teaching formats and modalities that you need to be prepared for, as each student has unique strengths and weaknesses that you should be aware of.

A summative assessment will usually consist of a final exam that is worth a lot of marks. It may be taken at the end of a semester or at the end of a course. It is actually designed to assess the performance of the pupil against a series of difficult benchmarks to determine if they are up to the mark.

It should also be noted that there are several ways to assess the competence of students online. Examples include drag and drop activities, placement tests, digital projects, quizzes, digital portfolios, gamification, conventional exams, and peer and self-assessments.

As the instructor, it is your responsibility to provide your students with the summative assessment strategy that they need to succeed in their studies.


How Students Benefit From Using Self-Assessments before Tutoring

A tutorial program that is preceded by a self-assessment strategy will pay great dividends in the end. Once you have determined the core strengths and weaknesses of the student, you will be able to design a learning program that will help them learn more effectively.

Determining their learning capacity, educational preferences, and other key areas of interest or concern will help the student learn quicker and also retain more information. The end goal is to amalgamate the assessment of the tutor with the pupil's peer and self-evaluation in order to help them obtain better grades.

Indeed, there are many different tutoring programs that are available to help students enjoy learning and academic achievements in order to inspire them to become better students.


Children Are the Future

A prior knowledge self-assessment will ask students to comment and reflect on their level of skill and expertise across a myriad of different topics. The questions that are asked may focus on experiences, skills, or knowledge that you wish to address in the course.

The questions may also focus on knowledge or skills that you assume your students have already learned or attained in previous courses. Or, the questions may concentrate on experiences that you believe are valuable, but are not mandatory or essential in order to complete the course.

In sum, a self-assessment prior to tutoring a student will help your pupil self-evaluate so they can think more critically. You will thus be able to identify their strengths and weaknesses in order to solidify the former and improve the latter.

Areas of weakness can also be given additional attention so that the student can build a solid foundation that will allow them to expand their horizons as they progress through the course. Each student is unique, which is why a self-assessment is an essential part of their learning and growth.



Jessica Coates is a blogger in Toronto. She graduated with honors from the University of British Columbia with a dual degree in Business Administration and Creative Writing. Jessica Coates is a community manager for small businesses across Canada. When not working, she leisurely studies economics, history, law and business solutions.

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