Peer Assessment of Group Projects in Civil Engineering

This article traces one university's approaches of peer assessment to develop fair and reliable systems of mark distribution resulting from group projects and to adapt one model to the specific requirements of civil engineering. It is the result of a two and a half years' experience with peer assessment in classes of different combinations of size, entry qualifications and experience. Initially, the methods devised by Goldfinch & Raeside (1990) were used; the relevance and drawbacks of this two‐part method of assessment in the field of civil engineering are discussed and new ideas are proposed. That article had suggested that the model is transferable. It has proved to be the case and in this discipline, that project diaries which the tutor uses to allocate individuals a mark, offer a unique alternative to Part 1 of the assessment process.     

Examining Student Satisfaction with Group Projects and Peer Assessment

The efficiency and effectiveness of learning outcomes in groupwork and in peer assessment is well attested in the higher education literature. However, there is little evidence that any quantitative measures of student satisfaction have been undertaken with the group process and peer assessment. In this paper a peer assessment method is explained and a study detailed which was undertaken on a cohort of 261 students to measure student satisfaction of the assessment process. It was found that there were high levels of student satisfaction with groupwork and in the adopted assessment method. Further analysis revealed that there were no effects on the levels of satisfaction of students with the independent variables gender and age. Yet, there was a fairly significant difference in the levels of satisfaction of students having work experience favouring those without. Finally, there was found to be a substantial difference in the levels of satisfaction between Australian and international students with international students expressing higher values. It is recommended that this study be extended to other subjects and disciplines.     

Peer Assessment by Groups of Group Work

Group work can be used to encourage deeper learning, promote student autonomy by transferring some of the responsibility for teaching and learning to students and simultaneously reduce academic time in feedback and marking. While these aims can also be achieved with peer assessment of student output (Williams, 1992; Hughes & Large, 1993; Somervell, 1993), its usage is often limited to assessing the contribution or input of each member to a group project (Goldfinch, 1994). This paper reports the results of a peer assessment experiment with 210 final-year undergraduate business students. Students formed 41 groups or teams, whose membership was constant for the duration of the subject, to complete two of the four assessable tasks. One of the team tasks was an oral class presentation worth 25% of a student's overall grade. Teams of peers rated the quality of the presentation, using a 22-point guide, in terms of content and presentation. Their mark was compared with a staff score also rating the presentation as a team. While there is no significant difference in the student and staff averages, there is a significant difference in the standard deviations which suggests that the two populations are different. However students scores were significantly closer to staff scores in the second half of the semester at least in terms of the presentation component. Although the peer-assessed marks are not significantly different from those assigned by staff, the correlation between them is only moderate.     

Assessing Individual Contributions: Experience of Peer Evaluation in Major Group Projects

With an increasing use of group activities in higher education there are questions being asked about the extent to which the final grading properly reflects individual contribution (or lack of it). The paper describes the development and use of peer evaluation in a DMS group project. Experience of using this method of evaluation shows that groups must be prepared for, and committed to, the activity. Peer evaluation forms part of the assessment process but does not seem sufficiently robust to be the sole source of informational input—especially if substantial grade variations are called for.     

同伴评价在合作学习中的应用研究

本文旨在探讨如何通过同伴评价提高小组合作语言学习效率。研究发现,小组合作学习模式中同伴评价提高了小组的凝聚力并使小组成员发现语言学习中共性的问题和有效的解决方法;同伴评价使学生更专注于语言使用的准确性;提高学生责任感与可信度,并能促进有建设性的同伴交流。     

Peer Assessment of a Group Project in a Primary Mathematics Education Course

This paper discusses the problem of discriminating between individual contributions in the assessment of group projects. It is argued that peer assessment is a necessary element of any proposed structure but that the use of any ‘weighting‐factor’ system is contrary to the philosophy underpinning collaborative groupwork. A structure that separates the process and product elements of the assessment is described and a set of generic criteria for the process peer assessment identified. This structure was implemented with a group of students at Hong Kong University and evaluated using questionnaires and in‐depth interviews. The paper discusses the results of this evaluation and in particular identifies the need for ‘benchmarking’ when using the criteria and also the problematic nature of the ‘insider‐outsider’ syndrome as an important cultural factor.     

Tutor Versus Peer Group Assessment of Student Performance in a Simulation Training Exercise

The performance of a group of third‐year higher diploma students from the Department of Hotel & Tourism in a simulation training exercise was assessed separately by the tutor and peer group, using an identical checklist. Ninety‐six pairs of tutor and peer group assessment marks were obtained and compared. Results showed that there was some degree of agreement between tutor and peer group markings, although the level of congruence was somewhat less than reported in earlier studies. However, when the tutor and peer group average marks were converted to grades, agreement was found in only 46.9% of the cases and the level of agreement between the two gradings was not statistically significant. Significant differences were also found in the variability of tutor and peer group markings. Furthermore, there were indications that peer group markings tended to be more stringent than tutor markings in the higher mark range, but relatively more lenient in the lower mark range. This trend was particularly obvious when the tutor and peer group marks were converted into grades. Implications of the findings are also discussed.     

Peer Assessment of an Individual ‘s Contribution to a Group Project

In an optometry subject which utilised group projects, students complained that awarding the same mark to all group members was often not a fair reflection of individual effort. Accordingly, an examination was made of procedures for assessing the contribution of an individual to a group project. A classification system for such schemes is given. One subject in the optometry course used a system which modified the group mark by a two‐part weighting factor. A detailed evaluation and critique of this scheme is given. A simpler scheme with a one‐part multiplicative weighting factor was derived from the best elements of the initial scheme. The simplified scheme is described and examples of the calculations given. Its use in another subject in the same course is described and evaluation data presented.     

Peer Assessment in Undergraduate Programmes

Abstract

Peer assessment was introduced into the assessment strategy of two marketing modules on two undergraduate programmes at Manchester Metropolitan University. A questionnaire was used to elicit responses from a sample of 80 students concerning their attitudes to and experience of, the peer assessment exercise. Students felt that the benefits of peer assessment were: the increase in personal motivation as a result of their active involvement in the assessment process; the opportunity to compare and discuss the assignment, and the opportunity to gain knowledge and develop a greater understanding of the assignment content and assessment process. Criticisms included the effects of personal bias on the marks awarded, the interpretation of criteria and the ability of the students to assess. Some students regarded peer assessment as an incentive to perform, while others saw it as an unfair system that lacked objectivity. Over half the sample regarded assessment as solely a role for the tutor. The research found that peer assessment made a valuable contribution to the variety of assessment and it enabled students to better understand the assessment process, however, it was a time consuming process for tutors     

Peer and Teacher Assessment of the Oral and Written Tasks of a Group Project

Undergraduate students, and their class teachers, assessed the performance of their peers in three oral and written tasks as part of a group project. The two sets of marks awarded by peers and teachers were subsequently compared to find out whether the students were competent to assess their peers alongside their class teachers and whether this competence, or lack of it, was partly determined by the nature of the task being assessed. A number of statistical tests were run to establish the levels of agreement, the ranges, differences and relationship between peer and teacher assessments. The results have led us to conclude that the peer assessments are not sufficiently reliable to be used to supplement teacher assessments. Students’ competencies in peer assessment do not appear to be dependent on the nature of the task being assessed, but there is some evidence that practical experience of assessing a particular task type can lead to an improvement in students’ assessment skills when they assess a similar task. The paper also discusses possible improvements in peer assessment procedures based on the experiences gained.     

慕课同伴互评模型设计研究

2011年以来,慕课热潮席卷全球,成为高等教育领域的变革力量。随着慕课教学理念和实践的流行和深入发展,如何对慕课学习者进行学习测评成为大规模、开放式、在线教学活动环境下教师、研究人员和慕课学习者关注重点之一。同伴互评作为学习测评的一种方式被认为能够有效应对慕课环境下大规模学习者学习测评需求。基于此,本文在文献研究的基础上详述了同伴互评的研究发展,并结合本人在美国访学期间参与佛罗里达州立大学慕课教学实践分析了其优点和不足,从教学法和教育技术应用的角度提出慕课学习环境下五种不同的同伴互评模型,即同伴评分模型、专家扮演同伴互评模型、社交网络同伴互评模型、跨文化同伴互评模型和批判性同伴互评模型,指出慕课环境下进行同伴互评模型设计应关注的设计原则、标准和未来研究方向。     

Organising Peer Tutoring in Higher and Further Education

The Centre for Paired Learning Audio Training Pack is a distance learning resource expanding upon the organisational issues considered in this article and including a photocopiable planning guide.

The Centre for Paired Learning Video Training Pack includes useful materials for training in generic tutoring skills. These include: Preparation, Rapport Introduction and Advance Organisers, Goal Setting, Sequencing and Varying Tasks and Activities, Instructing Discussing Explaining Listening Questioning, Modelling and Demonstration, Error Detection Signalling and Correction, Structuring Thinking Time, Prompting, Praising and Rewarding, Evaluating and Assessing.     

Organising Peer Tutoring in Higher and Further Education

This paper explores catalysts and contexts leading to a restructuring of the secondary teacher education program at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst. The Dean of the Faculty of Education and the Head of the School of Teacher Education had been involved in discussions over a number of years about the unsatisfactory nature of the ‘Dip Ed’ (see Eltis, Meyenn and Parker, 1993). The dissatisfaction was exacerbated by surveys of, and interviews with, students and by the publication in early 1994 of Shaping the Future (Wiltshire Report). There was, too, the influence of overseas developments in teacher education, particularly those that reflected a determination to ensure schools, practising teachers and universities were working in partnerships to design, implement and evaluate more relevant programs. And just as significantly, there was the close association between the School of Teacher Education and one of the local secondary schools, Bathurst High School, which heralded the possibilities of a purposeful educational partnership.     

Peer Learning and Assessment

Various forms of peer, collaborative or cooperative learning, particularly small group activities, are increasingly used within university courses to assist students meet a variety of learning outcomes. These include working collaboratively with others, taking responsibility for their own learning and deepening their understanding of specific course content. The potential benefits of peer learning have long been recognised and are especially relevant today. However, many existing assessment practices act to undermine the goals of peer learning and lead students to reject learning cooperatively. If assessment gives students the message that only individual achievement is valued, and that collaborative effort is akin to cheating, then the potential of peer learning will not be realised. Inappropriate assessment practices may also lead to unhelpful forms of competition within and between groups that prevent groups functioning effectively. This paper examines some of the main assessment issues in connection with peer learning and suggests ways in which the benefits of this approach can be maintained while still meeting the formal assessment requirements of the course. It discusses the use of group assessment, peer feedback and self‐assessment, assessment of participation and negotiated assessment and concludes with the identification of a number of issues which remain to be addressed.     

Assessment in Further Education

David Hutchinson, head, Work Orientation Unit, North Nottinghamshire College of Further Education, discusses ways to assess students with special needs for and during the course of their further education     

Peer Assessment of Contributions to a Group Project: Student attitudes to holistic and category-based approaches

This article complements two previous papers which presented quantitative data about methods of peer assessment within a group project. The previous quantitative papers indicated that holistic peer assessment supports the purposes of summative group assessment better than category-based peer assessment. The qualitative findings presented here support this notion. Student attitudes towards the two methods of peer assessment were more supportive of the holistic approach than the category-based approach. This article raises the question as to whether the method of peer assessment has some influence on the extent to which students work cooperatively in a group setting.     

Peer Assessment of Children's Prosocial Behaviour

The study was designed to examine 8-12-year-olds' peer assessments of prosocial behaviour and their relationship to self-assessments, teacher-assessments and peer acceptance. Although prosocial behaviour has been studied for many years, it has been narrowly operationalised and research has tended to lack ecological validity. To rectify these weaknesses, child-generated normative prosocial behaviours were used to generate peer nomination items for the purpose of rating children's performance of prosocial behaviour in peer interactions. Children also filled out self-ratings of social behaviour and peer sociometric nominations. Teachers assessed children's social behaviour, rating the same child-generated prosocial behaviours. Popular children were rated as significantly more prosocial than all other sociometric groups and rejected children were rated as significantly less prosocial than all other groups. The highest correlation was found between teacher and peer reports of prosocial behaviour. Self-ratings and peer-ratings of prosocial behaviour were significantly related, as were self-ratings and teacherratings of prosocial behaviour. Implications of research findings are discussed.     

Parenting Practices and Peer Group Affiliation in Adolescence

Social scientists have often assumed that parental influence is sharply curtailed at adolescence because of the rising counterinfluence of peer groups, over which parents have little control. The present study tested a conceptual model that challenged this view by arguing that parents retain a notable but indirect influence over their teenage child's peer associates. Data from a sample of 3,781 high school students (ages 15–19) indicated that specific parenting practices (monitoring, encouragement of achievement, joint decision making) were significantly associated with specific adolescent behaviors (academic achievement, drug use, self-reliance), which in turn were significantly related to membership in common adolescent crowds (jocks, druggies, etc.). Findings encourage investigators to assess more carefully parents' role in adolescents' peer group affiliations.