The Role of Habits-of-Mind Problems, Student Self-Assessments and Self Reflections In a 6th Grade Math Class

The focus of my action research is to study the impact of student self-assessment and reflection on my 6th grade math students’ abilities to solve deep-thinking math problems, herein referred to as habits-of-mind, or HOM, problems. I investigated the way informal self-assessments and self-reflections impact student learning and motivation. I discovered that students are seldom stimulated to think about their own learning. When they are encouraged to do so, student self-assessments give students ownership of their own learning and provide them with a means for evaluating their growth. Students’ assessments of their work also gives teachers a meaningful indication of what they have learned and provide information for improving instruction and for assigning grades. As a result of this research, I plan to focus on a systematic approach to study the impact the reflections and self-assessment devices have on the students’ metacognitive skills and their problem-solving abilities using HOM as the vehicle for evaluation.