"The Habit of Truth", because it's worth repeating....

"The foundation of scholarship as a collective human enterprise is neither intellect nor technical skill. It is simple honesty. If scholars did not have what Jacob Bronowski called "the habit of truth", there could be no accumulation of reliable knowledge, and thus no science. The rules for this habit of conscience are absolute: no compromises, no evasions, no shortcuts, no excuses, and no saving face. Planning, conducting, and reporting research make sense only so long as the social contract among scholars is honored - everyone tells the truth as well as he or she can know it." ( Locke, Spirduso, and Silverman, 2000, pp 25)

What Is Self-Assessment?
Examining, judging, and grading your own work with the goal of learning from it and improving upon it.

Why Is It Worth Doing?
- to learn from what is possible

- the results can be used to help learn why, what and how to improve
- you may find things you've forgotten or notice ways to improve before you even submit anything.

What Do You have To Do?
Using the same marking guide that the TA will use, mark your own work as though it were someone else's. Be sure to include comments about what was good (and why) and what needs improvement (and why). Be prepared to justify the marks you gave yourself. The TA will conduct his own assessment, explaining any discrepancies. By the way, if you give yourself perfect marks on everything, you are wasting your time unless you can truly justify. Remember: everyone tells the truth as well as he or she can know it.

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Copyright (C) 2003 Katrin Becker Last Modified June 1, 2003 09:13 AM