Systematic Review of Self-Assessment in Physical Education

Abstract

Self-assessment is among the most impactful processes in student learning. Since no review of this process was found in the field of physical education (PE), the objective of this work was to perform a systematic review of the literature published over the last five years on the self-assessment of PE students in formal education contexts. The review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were established to select the articles. A total of three researchers independently applied the above criteria and obtained a total of thirteen studies. After synthesising the results by category, we found that: a majority of the studies were conducted in Europe; all 13 studies covered the educational stages of either secondary or higher education; an even number of qualitative and quantitative approaches were distributed among the studies; some studies focused on specific sports or contents, while others were applicable to any subject; and, finally, depending on the research design adopted, the results described self-assessment strategy processes, improvements in learning, drew descriptive portraits of students regarding health, or reflected students’ positive perceptions of self-assessment. It is necessary to conduct further studies on PE students’ self-assessment, especially in primary education.