Evaluating Learning

Learning is notoriously hard to evaluate. It is difficult for teachers to evaluate student learning without robust forms of assessment in place. Learners find it even harder to self-evaluate their own learning. This can lead to the illusion of knowing, or the illusion of explanatory depth.

“How do you know what you know? Psychologists use the term, metacognition, to describe the ability to evaluate our own mental processes. If a student comes up after an exam and says, “I don’t know why I did so poorly, I thought I really knew the material”—it clearly suggests poor metacognition. Such “illusions of knowing” can stall learning proficiency, because a student would not feel the need to study further if he/she felt that the material was already well learned.”

Shimamura, MARGE A Whole-Brain Learning Approach for Students and Teachers, 2018

The illusion of explanatory depth is characterised by trying to explain how a toilet works.

When asked how a toilet works, most people will say “when you press the flush button, the water drains”

But why does pushing the flush lead to the water draining? It is at this point that most people can explain why a toilet drains.

The same occurs with students when they are asked to explain some concepts.

The illusion of explanatory depth leads to an overconfidence in our ability to explain concepts. This makes it difficult to self-evaluate learning. This overconfidence can lead to a low receptivity to new learning, as the learner feels they know the knowledge well enough already.

To overcome the illusion of explanatory depth, the lack of depth of knowledge needs to be highlighted. Two potential approaches for this include:

• Accurate learner assessment
• Framing learning as a process

Accurate learner assessment

The problem

Learners (and potentially teachers understanding of what their learners know) feel they know more about how to explain a concept than they actually do.

Potential causes

Teachers avoid modelling accurate self-assessment techniques to pupils and miss opportunities to assess whole class understanding in depth.

Potential solution

Train students in the use of multiple-choice quizzes, and how they can be uses to assess understanding. Use whole class assessment techniques, that do not allow for students to opt-out e.g. mini whiteboards.

Framing learning as a process

The problem

When learners feel they less receptive to learning more about a concept.

Potential causes

The learners know some knowledge about a concept and feel they can explain it in greater depth than they can.

Potential solution

Frame learning as a process, from learning facts, to building these facts together as part of fluent automatic application.