Self-Assessment of Singing Accuracy

This chapter presents a series of three research studies conducted to determine how teachers can best employ self-assessment to help elementary school children improve their singing accuracy. The first study examines the accuracy of children’s self-assessment, the second details the effects of teacher feedback on self-assessment accuracy, and the third describes the effects of peer feedback on self-assessment accuracy. Implications are that informal self-assessment of singing skills, conferencing with peers regarding singing skills, and practicing singing and self-assessment are activities that may contribute to accurate self-assessment in using correct words, singing in time, and using singing voices, and to somewhat accurate self-assessment in ability to match pitch. Including teacher feedback and peer feedback individually has yielded mixed results in increasing singing self-assessment accuracy in the combined areas of using singing voice, matching pitch, and melodic contour—with peer feedback over a slightly long period of time being more effective.