Grappling with Group-work &
Persevering with Peer
Assessment
Alison Rudzki
Business School
UCOL – Palmerston North
Background
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Bachelor of Applied Business Studies –
launched January 2005
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Two majors – Management and Marketing
Marketing Communications Paper
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Level 6 paper – Marketing Communications - the way in which
organization’s attempt to communicate with various target
audiences through advertising, sales promotion, personal selling,
public relations and direct marketing.
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Aim: To develop students with the knowledge and practical
experience to work effectively as marketing communications
practitioners upon graduation.
Developing an appropriate Teaching and Learning
Strategy, and Assessment Strategy
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The ‘applied’ nature of the degree
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Lecturer experience as marketing practitioner and academic
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Collaboration with other marketing practitioners
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Scanning marketing vacancies and graduate employment
literature
Teaching and Learning Strategy
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Give students real experience of real marketing communications
projects
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Engage students in deep vs. surface learning
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Demonstrate the value of reflective practice
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Simulate the workplace by engaging students in group-work
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Develop a range of transferable skills relevant to marketing
communications practice
Deep versus Surface Learning
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What do students need to learn? Which methods/resources are
most relevant?
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Lectures, reading, case studies, research, discussions, games,
role plays, video, websites, practical examples, exercises
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More focus on ‘Doing’ rather than ‘hearing how to do’
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Feedback on class exercises and assessment
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Students would be able to judge their progress and understand
where and how they might improve
The value of self-reflection
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Donald Schön – The Reflective Practitioner – proposed that
knowledge is acquired in the midst of the action itself
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Self assessment – improving student learning by passing on skills
of evaluation and critical judgment – Hilary Burgess
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Weekly reflection on key learning
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Reflection on practical tasks carried out
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Reflection on professional development through formal self/peer
assessment
Engaging Students in Group-work
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Essential in Marketing Communications profession
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Collier and Gross-Davis – students working in groups tend to
learn more of what is taught and retain information longer
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Group work is a feature of most classes
Problems with Group-work
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Different levels of individual commitment to the group
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Resentment on the part of those who feel they are undertaking
most of the work
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Some fail to participate at all
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Group can completely break down
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Students can feel powerless
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The lecturer can spend huge amounts of time trying to sort out
problems!
Development of Transferable Skills
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Adaptability and transferable skills
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Communication and presentation skills
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General team-working skills
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Use of Information Technology
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Organisation and Planning
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Problem Solving and Decision Making
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Research Skills
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Stress management skills
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Time management skills
Assessment Strategy
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Inextricably linked with teaching and learning
Consider the appropriate assessment of learning outcomes early
in the course design
Combination of formative and summative which dovetail with the
teaching and learning strategy
Give students real experience of real marketing communications
projects
Engage students in deep vs. surface learning
Demonstrate the value of reflective practice
Simulate the workplace by engaging students in group-work
Develop a range of transferable skills relevant to marketing
communications practice
Four Assessments
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In-course test – summative assessment to test understanding
of basic concepts (10% final mark)
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Two group projects – formative assessment that comprises
written work; and a presentation where the BABS teaching team
and the class give general feedback, the lecturer gives specific
feedback, and self/peer assessment forms an integral part (25%
and 35% (with 10% allocated by self/peer assessment)
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Final exam – summative – multiple choice and short answer
questions to test application of knowledge; an essay question
which requires students to reflect on their learning (30%)
Project work
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Take on the role of a marketing management team
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Work with a real organisation to research and develop a
marketing communications plan
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Outcome – a Creative Brief – which provides an outline of the
creative tasks an advertising, design or media planning agency
would used to develop their solutions.
Project work
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Reversal of roles - advertising, design or media planning team
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Respond to the Creative Brief previously produced
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Present a media schedule, timeline and budget
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They succeed or fall, based on their initial recommendations =
real consequences
Grappling with Group-work
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Group self-management system
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The system is in place for the benefit of students
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Gives students ownership of the problem and a way of
formalising group problems if necessary
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The system works – it flows into the allocation of marks
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Based on the game of football…
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To issue a card, at least 50% of the group must agree this is the
most appropriate action
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Students are expected to be sympathetic to ‘personal problems’
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Yellow card – can be revoked once = 25% reduction of marks
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Red card – cannot be revoked = 100% reduction of marks
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Students can appeal if they feel unfairly treated
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Lecturer works with the group to reach a fair outcome
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Lecturer’s decision is final
Self and Peer Assessment
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Students are required to rate themselves and their colleagues
against a list of key skills/attributes
Indicators/examples are provided to help students understand
what is required e.g.
Organisation and Planning
Indicators: deadline met; accurate minutes; evidence of good time
management skills; regular attendance achieved; evidence of task
allocation and prioritisation between team members; goals set and
achieved; evidence of short term and long term solutions applied
to the assignment
Self and Peer Assessment
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It maximises the opportunity for students to reflect on their own
learning and from each other
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Learning takes place through constructively critiquing their own
and others’ work in parallel
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Helps students to provide constructive feedback
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Enables students to take responsibility for monitoring their own
learning and development
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It can provide a first step towards independent and autonomous
learning
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It can be personally motivating
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Aids the understanding of the assessment process
Some people believe that assessment is
the responsibility of the lecturer…
What about self and peer assessment?
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“I thought this was good. We usually just talk about the subject
and I don’t’ normally think about things like how well organised I
am. But I know its important and I know I’m really good at some
things but now I have to concentrate on time management
because its important when looking for a good job. My time
management was all over the place in the project, so it was a
good lesson.”
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“I think some of the other groups cheated and gave each other
really good marks, but we couldn't see the point. I mean, the
marks were there for a reason, youre just a loser if you cannt
see that.”
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“We should of been able to give ourselves more marks”.
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“It was a bit weird trying to think about what you’d done… usually do
it in my own mind when I get assignments back, but I’ve never done it
like this I know you need to have these talents… good to have a list…
it was embarrassing at first when we were talking about each
other…okay in the end…quite good because we were all honest with
each other and now I know that I need to work harder on my
organisation and on doing power point… because you said it would
be important when I get a job”.
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“It was painful. But no gain without pain. Cool bananas.”
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“I not like very much, but think it is a good idea”.
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“I think I learned quite a bit about myself when I did this, usually I
don’t bother, I just can’t wait to get the assignment out of the way and
get on with the next one. I suppose I really thought about what I was
doing this time”.
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“It was probably a good idea because employers arent just looking for
a degree. They want to know you have skills and can do the job. I’ve
put the list on my CV so I can put in some examples from college for
when I go to interviews”.
What do the students think about group work and the
group management system?
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“I hate working in groups, its not fair because you always get
stuck with people who don’t work hard. But I thought the cards
were awesome. We nearly gave a yellow one to one of the
dudes but he sorted his stuff out when he found out and did
some cool stuff in the end.”
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“I’ve always tried to get out of group work, but it was actually ok
this time cos we could do something about it. We had power.
Its cool to be treated as a adult for once”.
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“We didn’t use the system, we didn’t need it, I think the fact it
was there really helped. I wish we’d have had it when we did
(another paper) because we had a real egg in the group and we
couldn’t do anything about him and we ended up with a crap
mark which wasn’t fair.”
What do the students think about the paper?
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“I can’t believe how much I have learned. I did half of this paper
at another (name provided) university before I moved down
here, but it was all theory and when I got a part-time job in
marketing I was really struggling. Since starting here I’ve done
lots of different things and my boss is really pleased because
now I can help more. She even let me do all the marketing for
one of her events and she was really rapt with the posters and
the press releases I did”. (2005 cohort)
What do the students think about the paper?
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“I am learning a lot from BABS paper and think it will really
benefit me in the area of employment. I thought working with a
real business was very hard, but they give me lot of help and
now offer me some work which will be very good for me I think”.
(2006 cohort)
What about the organisations?
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“ What a refreshing change to get a group of students in who
actually know what they are doing. Students are usually pretty
good at writing plans, but this lot could actually implement them!
They’ve saved me a lot of time and money and I have a whole
list of projects for your students next year.”
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“The team came up with some fantastic ideas. The costings
and the plan were extremely helpful as I had initially dismissed
radio, but now realise it’s an affordable option.”
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“I basically took their brochure and went straight to print – saved
me a lot of hassle!”
What about the organisations?
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“ The students had some great ideas. I wouldn’t be able to put
a lot of what they came with into operation as it currently
stands, but they certainly got me thinking about some new ways
of reaching the market and I’ll be picking up on a few of
concepts.”
What about the course lecturer?
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Students reflect more on their learning and are closer to
becoming reflective practitioners/autonomous professionals
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Giving students the power to allocate marks based on self/peer
assessment will encourage them to take it more seriously
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Students actively learn new skills e.g. constructive feedback
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Students learn to work in a team
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I spend less time sorting out group ‘problems’
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I spend less time explaining to students why they have
achieved the given grade
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Students provide an insight into group dynamics – which I can’t
always see = more holistic approach
A word about group-work
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It’s too hard to manage…yes it’s REALLY HARD TO MANAGE –
but the benefits far outweigh the downside, and it’s something
graduates need to be able to do…
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Try letting the students MANAGE for themselves?
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Accept that you might need to intervene – and how you will do this
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Accept that it won’t always work well
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Think hard about why you are introducing it in the first place
Common Myths about self and peer assessment…
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Introducing self and peer assessment reduces your
workload…WRONG!
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Self and Peer assessment is subjective and therefore
invalid…NOT IF IT IS UNDERTAKEN WELL!
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Students cannot see the value of it…THEN IT IS PROBABLY
YOUR FAULT!
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By introducing self and peer assessment, the lecturer loses
control… ONLY IF YOU LET IT HAPPEN!
Tips
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If you’re using group-work, assessed or otherwise, make sure the
students know why and open up for clarification and review.
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Give the group some authority as well as responsibility – always
endeavour to be fair.
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Address students concerns and suggestions before implementation.
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If you are using self/peer assessment, outline the process of
assessment in advance and give students the opportunity to work out
why this is so important.
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Make sure all students understand what each criterion and level of
performance means. Encourage students to invent examples of work
which meets/ does not meet these criteria.
Tips
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During and after the self/peer assessment seek students’ comments
about making improvements – this maximises the prospect of your
students seeing and experiencing the validity of the approach.
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Encourage students to be honest.
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Make sure YOU take group-work and self-peer assessment seriously!