Students’ Experience of Comparison-Based Learning in Self-Assessment: A Phenomenographic Study in Higher Education

This paper explores, through a phenomenographic analysis, how higher education students experience learning-through-comparison processes embedded in self-assessment activities. By combining observations and interviews, the paper offers a threefold contribution: (1) it provides two in-depth narratives of self-assessment activities; (2) it develops a typology that distinguishes between explicit versus implicit and analogical versus analytical comparisons; and (3) it proposes an outcome space to illustrate how students perceive and engage with these contrasting assignments. The analysis detects a specific value of analogical comparisons for self-generated learning and of analytical comparisons for a better understanding of the course stakes. In both cases, making comparisons explicit is a way to foster cognitive and metacognitive benefits. Additionally, the findings indicate that comparisons with peer productions should receive special attention as students are less familiar with them than with traditional instructor feedback. Lastly, results suggest that consistency in self-grading should not always be interpreted as an indicator of powerful self-assessment. These insights hold implications for researchers and educators concerned with the ins and outs of self-assessment practice.