Educational benefits of student self-marking of short-answer questions

A pilot study was undertaken to evaluate the feasibility and reliability of undergraduate medical student se (marking of degree written examinations, and to survey student opinion regarding the process. The correlation betwee n student and faculty staff scores for individual questions and the total e xamination was high (correlation coefficient ranged from 0.77 to 0.91: p < 0.001). There were no significant differences between the mean student and mean faculty staff scores for individual questions or the total examination : 98% (97/99) of student scores fell within +/- 15% of the faculty staff sc ore, with 92% (91/99) of students falling within +/- 10%. Although the appr oach was demonstrated to be reliable, students generally failed to acknowle dge the potential value of self-marking in terms of feedback and as a learn ing opportunity, and found the process stressful.