Self-Assessment and Expert Feedback in Manual Therapy Education: Practical Skill Development and Student-Expert Grading Agreement

This randomized controlled study, investigated the effects of video-supported self-assessment (VSA) and expert feedback on physiotherapy students’ practical skills. Sixty-five students were divided into an experimental group (who performed self-assessment of their video-recorded performance using a rubric and received expert feedback) and a control group (who only recorded their performance). Four weeks later, all students took a face-to-face practical exam.
No significant difference was found between the groups in exam scores. However, the experimental group showed a significant improvement from their video scores to the final exam scores. Students’ self-assessment scores were significantly higher than expert scores, and agreement between them was very low. The study concludes that while VSA and feedback did not directly improve exam performance, they may serve as a learning tool that enhances students’ awareness of their performance. The low accuracy of self-assessment highlights the need for structured integration of such methods into the curriculum.