Chi-Jung Sui, Miao-Hsuan Yen, Yi-Chen Lin, Chia-Yu Wang, Chun-Yen Chang
The current study addresses a notable gap in our understanding of what self-assessment design improves students’ socio-scientific argumentation. We investigated the effects of three self-assessment designs: (1) Prediction-only, where students predicted their performance; (2) Standards-informed, where students predicted their performance and compared it against evaluation criteria; and (3) Reflective-adaptation, which additionally engaged students in reflecting on and adjusting their learning strategies. A total of 116 eighth-grade students were assigned to one of these three groups. Over the course of three units focused on energy-related socio-scientific issues, we examined students’ cognitive and metacognitive outcomes–including the quality of their arguments (supporting claims and rebuttals), the accuracy of their self-assessments, and their self-regulation growth from pre–to post-test. Results showed that only the Reflective-adaptation group exhibited a significant improvement in self-regulation. Moreover, this group demonstrated the most substantial gains in argumentation quality over time, particularly in generating well-supported claims. These findings highlight the pivotal role of adaptation tasks in helping students move beyond monitoring toward active regulation. This shift not only enhanced cognitive performance but also strengthened metacognitive skills, underscoring the value of comprehensive self-assessment approaches in science education. © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Research Center for Testing and Assessment, National Academy for Educational Research, New Taipei City, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Science Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Digital Learning and Education, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei City, Taiwan; Institute for Research Excellence in Learning Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, Taiwan; Department of Earth Sciences, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, Taiwan; Department of Biology, Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, Indonesia
