Instructors teaching in classrooms where collaborative learning is used are interested in accessing their works effectiveness. As a research process, assessment enables instructors to confirm the idea that students working collaboratively learn easily and efficiently.
For example, biology instructors from Yakima Valley Community College used grade distributions and retention rates to compare student’s performance in Biology before and after introduction of a collaborative learning method.
They compared the two variables in the previous twelve lessons taught in lecture mode to those taught using the collaborative approach. The results indicate that retention rates of the students improved remarkably.
Students rarely dropped out before the completion of the course. The Collaborative method of learning is more demanding and leads to improvement of grades.
Students are responsible for learning from each other and solving problems together, individual effort is directly reflected in their grades.
Although students in classrooms using collaborative learning as a method of teaching showed improved performance, it leads to a drop in reading tests.
Instructors ask students to assess their work to ascertain their development over a given period of time. It enables students to review what they did, learned and the effects of learning on his or her capacity to perform in future.
Self-assessment enables students to reveal things relevant to learning which the teacher cannot know unless students speak out.
For example, the students are in a good position to report the difficulties they encounter when starting to write an essay and if watching news triggers thought about other things.
Pleasure, constant interest, and continuous elucidation of personal experiences by new ideas influence the resultant quality of a student’s academic output. Self-assessment enables students to review their objectives and readjust their targets as well as reminding other stakeholders of the importance of their achievements.
It also enables them to reflect on their mental habits that enhance development of capacities (intelligence and thinking) that support good performance.
The challenge in the use of this method is that students exaggerated and misinterpret what they have achieved. This gives the instructor the wrong implication.
Teachers can support students’ development of capacities to assess through giving cheap assignments and progress to demanding ones as students adjust.