The Effect of Descriptive Evaluation on the Academic Self-concept, Creativity and Achievement of the Fourth Grade Elementary School Students

Taking the new approaches to learning and teaching process into account, in 1382 the descriptive evaluation system was applied at the elementary schools in Iran with the objective of making fundamental changes in the present evaluation system. The present research aims to compare the effect of descriptive and quantitative evaluations on the academic self-concept, creativity and achievement of the fourth grade elementary school students. In descriptive and evaluative systems, evaluation is the part and parcel of education. The study of evaluative systems of various countries has shown that the use of qualitative methods to evaluate the students’ ability has a very long history. Kemp and Toperoff (1998) have conducted a study on the educational evaluation of students by work folder and concluded that the use of work folder makes learners active and independent, and gives them internal stimulus to try and improve their academic achievements. In another study, Razzagh Manesh (1386) and Kord (1381) have studied the effect of feedback of tecoini evaluation on students’ academic achievement and concluded that this kind of evaluation, by presenting appropriate and revised feedback, leads to students’ academic achievements. One of the evaluatively-described strategies is self-assessment. In her study, Christopher (2010) has shown that the development of self-assessment strategies boosts reflective thinking in students and gives them the ability to give cognitive and emotional responses to their own learning. In addition, she asserts that immediate feedback, without any ambiguous and metacognitive obstacles, is one of the key elements in determining the effect of descriptive feedback by which self-regulation gets boosted, learning facilitated and academic achievement established. In recent years, this theory that individual talent is the only independent element playing a role in the academic achievement has affirmed and stressed the role of academic self-concept and its influence on the academic achievement. The relationship between self-concept and academic success has also been studied by researchers such as Brook Over (1981), March (1984), and Sekaluk (1986). Some research results concerning the impact and importance of self–concept in academic achievement have indicated the noticeable degree of correlation (0.4-0.6); however, some of the researchers have not found any sensible relationship between self-concept and academic achievement among whom mention can be made of Hunt (1997), Hushmand (1376), and Mohmmadi (1377).In addition to the academic achievement, another variable that is influenced by the applied evaluative procedure is creativity. In his research, Zarei (1388) concludes that the students who are descriptively evaluated are more creative than those qualitatively evaluated. This finding has been affirmed by other researchers such as Haghighi (1383), Mortezai Nejad (1383) and Shir Mohmmadi (1388). However, there are other studies with contradictory results. For instance, Shah Nemati, Valayi and Fani (1387) have shown in their research that tecoini evaluations, together with feedback, can lead to an appropriate mental atmosphere in the class and the development of academic achievement in the learners but it doesn’t have any effect on the learners’ creativity.The present study is aimed at investigating whether there are any observable differences between the qualitative-descriptive evaluation and quantitative-traditional one in determining the academic self-concept, creativity and academic achievement of the fourth grade elementary school students. In the present study, the research method applied is a descriptive, casual-comparative one. The results of the study indicate that there is a significant difference among the students in the descriptive and quantitative evaluation systems in terms of their academic self-concept, creativity, and academic achievement. It is found that the students in the descriptive evaluation system have a more positive academic self-concept, higher creativity and better academic achievement as compared with those in the traditional evaluation system. The results of the study indicate that the students in the descriptive evaluation system have a more positive academic self-concept, higher creativity and better academic achievement as compared with those in the traditional evaluation system This finding can be interpreted in terms of positive, descriptive and evaluative characteristics including a change from a distance scale to a rating one, the reduction in blaming and the removal of pressure in getting top scores.The descriptive evaluation forms a positive academic self-concept in the students by creating interactions and relationships between the teachers and students, by increasing the mental health in class, by using various evaluative parameters, by providing the field for the appearance of students’ talents, by concentrating on strong points and by revising weak points all of which can lead to the formation of a positive academic self-concept in students.Based on the psychological theories, the creativity appearance rests on dealing with obstacles and going beyond troublesome traditions. In academic evaluation, the focus on predicated and frame- based responses, strips students’ curiosity and hinders creativity manifestation. In this kind of evaluation, the students are not compared with each other and are encouraged to have new ideas resulting from lateral and divergent thinking.Based on the metacognitive learning theories, the use of metacognitive learning strategies in descriptive evaluation assures deeper learning and more academic achievement. While in descriptive evaluation, evaluation is in the service of learning; various formative evaluation means, strategies and active teaching methods are used and the learners receive metacognitive, descriptive and revised feedbacks in order to understand their lessons better and deeper.