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Teaching methods

Peer assessment#

Peer assessment is a broad term for a range of activities that include students in the act of evaluating and providing feedback on the work of their peers. It can be formative, where students give feedback on each other’s drafts before a final product is submitted, or summative, where students use a rubric to grade final submissions.
Peer assessment is most commonly used with written work, but can also be used with presentations, performances, posters, videos and other types of assignments. It is also commonly used as a strategy for students to assess the contributions of their fellow students to group work and assignments. Students benefit from peer assessment in a number of ways: receiving more frequent and timely feedback than when the instructor is the only one providing it, getting feedback on drafts and being able to make improvements, and engaging in the critical analysis and reflection associated with assessing the work of their peers.
Peer assessment can take many forms that can vary depending on the learning goals, the disciplinary or curricular context, and available technologies. Peer assessment is often characterized as taking either a formative or summative approach.

Formative Peer Assessment

  1. Students are introduced to the assignment and criteria for assessment
  2. Students are trained and given practice on how to assess and provide feedback
  3. Students complete and submit a draft
  4. Students assess the drafts of other students and give feedback
  5. Students reflect on the feedback received and revise their work for final submission
  6. Assignments are graded by the instructor
  7. Instructor reflects on the activity with the class

Summative Peer Assessment

  1. Students are introduced to the assignment and criteria for assessment
  2. Students are trained and given practice on how to use the grading rubric and provide feedback
  3. Students complete and submit a final assignment
  4. Students assess the assignments of 3 to 6 other students using the grading rubric and provide feedback
  5. Grades are determined for each student by taking the median score given by their peers
  6. Instructor and students reflect on the activity with an emphasis on reinforcing the learning that occurred in the giving of peer feedback