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The Dearing Report's (1997) radical proposals challenged lecturers in higher education to develop innovative assessment strategies. This paper explores the dilemmas experienced by one teaching team in designing and implementing a student self-assessment strategy within a community nursing degree programme. The paper reviews the impact on students' sense of autonomy and critical thinking skills. In addition, it considers, in depth, the risks associated with developing and implementing a strategy involving self-assessment. Drawing on a range of sources it examines the drivers for the initiative, the response from the range of stakeholders involved and the impact on the student experience. The academic team found that developing such a creative initiative is time consuming, provokes anxiety and requires extensive negotiation and collaboration between academic and practice colleagues. However, the adoption of a self-assessment initiative has a significant effect on students' critical thinking skills and warrants the effort. © 2006 Taylor & Francis.
Jane Fitzpatrick (Tue,) studied this question.