The use of self-assessment in improving students' oral presentation skills

Oral presentation skills are very important in teaching. The writer works with a group of Bachelor of Education students on improving their oral presentation skills in a compulsory module that they take in Year One of their studies. Input to students takes various modes: theoretical input on theories of communication, workshops, seminars and trial run of oral presentations. The final assessment is a group presentation of an education topic selected by the students themselves. Also, students need to write a short reflection on their own performance. This paper reports the different aspects that students deem important in their reflections and explore the extent to which students’ self-assessment of their own performance is congruent with the tutor’s assessment of it. By finding out more about student’s assessment of their oral presentation skills, we may have a better idea of how it may be used to enhance students’ learning. Copyright © 2004 Hawaii International Conference on Education.