Concerns around student success and attrition abound today. But what can be done to support students and help prevent them from leaving college before graduation? Supporting students’ confidence in their ability to succeed is one critical step you can take. (Parsons et al., 2009). Beyond improving graduation rates, higher student confidence has a number of benefits such as: greater student participation, goal-seeking, interest in your lessons, and opinion-sharing, as well as lower anxiety levels (Akbari & Sahibzada, 2020). This is particularly important for minoritized students, who already tend to have lower confidence levels (Litzler et al., 2014; Jackson et al., 2020). But what can we do to improve student confidence and help students persist and succeed in college, especially when our schedules are jam-packed already? If you can only make one change, we recommend focusing on the first assessment in your courses. 

Why the First Assessment?

The first assessment is the critical point for impacting student attrition (Meer & Chapman, 2014). This assessment therefore has a substantial impact on whether or not students will succeed in a given course. Oftentimes the results of the first assessment push students into one of two cycles. Either the first assessment can spark a cycle of student confidence and lifelong learning (Norman & Hyland, 2003), or it can push students down a path that can lead to failing confidence and worsening educational outcomes. However, simply doing well on the first assessment is not necessarily a condition for developing confidence and proceeding down a more successful path.

What Makes an Effective First Assessment?

Impactful first assessment can be best understood as the first step for students to develop confidence in both the learning process of the course design as well as their own ability to successfully grow to achieve success by the end of that process. There are 6 key components of a first assessment which is effective at instigating student confidence (Meer & Chapman, 2014) 

1. Early in the Semester

An early assessment is critical because it gives students ample time to improve and work towards success. If the first assessment is halfway through a semester, then students can feel lost and unsure of what they are and are not supposed to know. This can lead to frustration, disassociation from the class, and a lessening of their confidence.

2. Simplified Task

It is important that the first assessment focuses on more simplified tasks which have clearer instructions and assessment methods. Students need to be able to understand what they are supposed to do. This also allows them to reflect more easily on how they can improve. A task that asks too much or that requires a large amount of information or procedures can leave students confused and feeling as though they cannot succeed, even if they may know the material. Remember, this first assessment is about facilitating confidence for future learning. Build in the complexity throughout the course once they have developed that foundational confidence.

3. Low Stakes (~10-20%)

A low-stakes assessment is important because if a student does not score highly on such a first assessment, they will still have enough opportunities to improve throughout the course to get a higher grade. When the first assessment is worth higher percentages (~40%+), then students will oftentimes feel as though there is nothing they can do to improve their grade. This can lead them to stop trying or to drop the course altogether.

4. Quick Grading Turnaround

This is critical because students need to be able to feel connected to the work they have done. If you wait a week or two, then students will oftentimes already have moved on to the next thing. Additionally, if the course scaffolds, then students may not know they have an incorrect understanding and this can lead them to fall further behind. This sense of being behind can have a huge impact on their confidence and belief that they can catch up and succeed. 

5. Written and Oral Feedback

This is critical for two reasons. First, accessibility. Not all students are able to receive written or oral feedback due to a variety of disabilities. Second, providing feedback in multiple formats allows students the ability to engage with the feedback on multiple levels which can help them to grasp the concept more deeply. It also allows for feedback to be more short form and general (such as talking about key points in front of the class), while also being more actionable and tailored to the student via written feedback.

6. Revision Opportunity

Finally, an opportunity for redrafting emphasizes that the point of assessment is primarily for students’ learning and growth. In the real world, people make mistakes and they need to learn from them. Expecting perfect marks at the beginning is unrealistic and antithetical to learning. However, it is important that students have the opportunity to use your feedback on their mistakes to redraft. This emphasizes to students that learning is a process where the goal is to master the material by the end of the course, not the beginning. Additionally, a redraft allows students to engage with their mistakes and, through the help of actionable feedback, improve their understanding. This will support their confidence in their ability to succeed as a result of their continual effort, rather than some instant understanding of the topic. 

Related CETL Teaching Tips

• Characteristics of Effective Feedback 
• Using Growth Mindset Messaging for First-Generation Student Success
• Normalizing and Promoting Academic Success Support
• Early Feedback Is Crucial: How to Refer Students Quickly and Easily

References

Akbari, O., & Sahibzada, J. (2020). Students’ self-confidence and its impacts on their learning process. American International Journal of Social Science Research, 5(1), 1–15.  

Jackson, Z. A., Harvey, I. S., & Sherman, L. D. (2020). The impact of discrimination beyond sense of belonging: Predicting college students’ confidence in their ability to graduate. Journal of College Student Retention Research Theory & Practice, 24(4), 973–987.  

Litzler, E., Samuelson, C. C., & Lorah, J. A. (2014). Breaking it down: Engineering student STEM confidence at the intersection of race/ethnicity and gender. Research in Higher Education, 55(8), 810–832. 

Meer, N. M., & Chapman, A. (2014). Assessment for confidence: Exploring the impact that low-stakes assessment design has on student retention. The International Journal of Management Education, 12(2), 186–192.   

Norman, M., & Hyland, T. (2003). The role of confidence in lifelong learning. Educational Studies, 29(2–3), 261–272. 

Parsons, S., Croft, T., & Harrison, M. (2009). Does students’ confidence in their ability in mathematics matter? Teaching mathematics and its applications. An International Journal of the IMA, 28(2), 53–68.

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About the Author

Thomas Baranski is the Educational Development Coordinator at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. His main research interests lie in sustainability and equity in education, place and informal education, and arts education. When he finds the time, he enjoys playing music, and reading and writing a poem or two.

Others may share and adapt under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC.

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