Do Student Self-Assessments of Confidence and Knowledge Equate to Competence?

Abstract

Objective. To review the literature related to potential associations between self-assessed perceptions of knowledge and/or confidence with actual competence.

Findings. A literature search was completed using PubMed and Google Scholar for articles containing the initial search terms of “student” + “competence” + “confidence” + “correlation”. Articles were pulled from 2000-2020 which resulted in 484 total articles. Screening involved identifying abstracts and articles that attempted to correlate competence and confidence. 22 articles involving a variety of disciplines, including undergraduate studies, dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy were included following the screening process. Most studies focused on student self-reported confidence compared to competency assessed by a formative examination. Only a handful of studies were centered around pharmacy education.

Summary. Educational research that evaluates student learning should employ measures of competency as the primary outcome rather than student perceptions. Student perceptions should be avoided as the primary measure of student learning but may have some utility as an adjunct to competency data.