The Self-Assess tool operates by delivering questions that the student must answer before, during and after a work session. The answers are recorded and may be reviewed. This feature is similar to a technique employed in another study where prompts were used to elicit self-explanation. A computer-simulation program, developed to aid students in designing biology experiments, prompted students to stop before, during and after designs to explain their decision-making and interpretation of the scientific phenomenon. Sample prompts included: "How do you plan on going about the design?"; "Why did you set up this particular experiment?"; and "What would you do differently if you designed this experiment all over again?" These process prompts engaged students in self-monitoring of contradictory thoughts and construction of new understanding without direct teaching of specific strategies. (Lin and Lehman, 1999)

• Self-assessments may be developed anew for each class by reprogramming the Self-Assess tool
• Learning how to self-assess happens gradually and is a large part of the scaffolding
• Students have several discussion forums early on to work on programming the Self-Assess tool
• A section of the postmortem concentrates on the self-assessment that occurred and what the student views as the outcome of this practice using the criteria she helped put in place