Does peer assessment work for students?
An exploration of the effectiveness of
student peer assessment in the Business
School.
Sally Bunce, Principal Lecturer in Business School
The researchers
• Sally Bunce, Principal Lecturer in
Marketing, Business School
• Herminia Alonso, Visiting Lecturer,
Business School
Advisor on student perspectives and
logistics:
• Malgorzata Sokol, UH Graduate
Employment Officer, Graduate Futures
2
Aims of presentation
• Briefly examine the literature and background to
the study
• Discuss the methodology for the study
• Consider the results of the study
• Invite delegates to comment on their experiences
of peer assessment
Background to the study
• Literature review
• In depth interviews with Business School staff to
understand experiences and perceptions of peer
assessment in the Business School – a study by Herminia
Alonso
• The methodology for the study was developed
• Level 2 Advertising in Context Module was used in Sem:A
• Students were consulted at beginning of module and
process explained
• Peer assessment exercise Research took place in class
on Tuesday 1st Dec from 14.00-16.00 with 48 students
from BA Marketing
• We are currently writing up the results
Business School – Growth
2002/03 – 2400 students
Photo: Thanks to
Jenny Evans
2008/09 – 3500 students
What is Peer-Assessment?
Students make assessment decisions on
other student’s work; Race (2001)
Peer-assessment is a common form of
shared learning in which students provide
feedback on each others work. It improves
the quality of learning and empowers
students; McDowell and Mowl (1996).
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Peer-Assessment & Literature Review Benefits
Some of the peer-assessment benefits identified in
academic literature include:
•Improved understanding of subject
matter
McDowell (1995); Papinczak et al.
(2007); Ballantyne et al. (2002);
Vickerman (2009)
•Potential to strengthen the link
between tutors’ feedback and students’
learning
•Improve Student’s self assessment
skills
Orsmond et al. (2000); Liu & Tsai
(2005); Dochy et al. (1999);
Ljungman & Silen, (2008)
•Engage students in the process of
learning and group interaction
Ballantyne et al. (2002) Vickerman
(2009) Hawk & Shah (2007)
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Ballantyne et al. (2002); Vickerman
(2009);
Vickerman
(2009);
Ljungman & Silen (2008)
Peer-Assessment & Literature ReviewLimitations
Some of the peer-assessment limitations identified in
academic literature include:
•Increased time and workload for
both teachers and students
•Students may be unrealistic or
biased in assessing peers and
awarding grades
•Ethical challenges
•Specific difficulties with large
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classes
Boud et al. (2001); Vu et al. (2007);
McDowell (1995); Topping et al.
(2000); Papinczak et al. (2007);
Ballantyne et al. (2002); Pond et al.
(1995)
Boud et al., 2001; Vu et al., 2007
Boud et al., 2001; Vu et al., 2007;
McDowell, 1995; Papinczak et al.,
2007; Orsmond and Merry, 1996;
Papinczak et al., 2007
The Task (15% of module marks)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
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Essay topic was given on Nov 10th
Word limit: 600 – 700 words
Deadline for Studynet submission: 23rd November by 23:30
Peer Assessment marking of essays in class – Tuesday 1nd
December. Attendance and participation was compulsory and
worth 5% of module marks. The essay would be marked as usual
by the tutor worth up to 10% of marks.
Students had to arrive in class with two printed copies of their
essays with student ID number on only
Students worked in pairs and marked TWO ESSAYS
An Indicative Answer for Subject Content was given to students
with grading only allowed at midpoint A2,B2,C2,D2, Fail
However, students were asked to set three assessment criteria of
their own choosing and associated weighting, and award a grade
They had to write feedback on forms for each essay, the student
markers would remain anonymous
Questionnaire given to students at the end of the two hour session.
What did we say to students?
• We need your feedback on your experience of peerassessment & to what extent it supports your learning
• Your feedback will help shaping peer-assessment at
UHBS
• The peer-assessment process will form part of a
research into Learning & Teaching
• Participating in the peer-assessment process is
compulsory.
• Participating in the peer-assessment research is
voluntary and ethical approval has been gained
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The Peer Assessment Forms
TASK 1 – GROUP WORK, AGREEING ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
(25 Minutes)
This task aims to get you involved in discussing key elements to consider when
assessing written work. We are asking
you to swap your student hat for a tutor hat.
Group Work Logistics:
1.Brainstorm and write down the three key assessment criteria that you would like to
include in the marking criteria. 10 minutes
2.Agree the weight of each criterion. 5 minutes
3.Briefly describe what sorts of performance evidence will demonstrate achievement
of each criteria. 10 minutes
Tips to help you accelerate the process:
If you do not agree on a criteria just throw a coin to decide on who is going to
be the final decision maker for that specific criteria.
If you do not agree on the weight of the criteria, try to identify the average
The Peer Assessment Forms
TASK 2 - PEER-ASSESSMENT
Student number on the assignment you are marking:_________________
•
• Important: please concentrate on quality of feedback. It might help you when
giving feedback to think of:
• The tone in which you write the feedback – positive, constructive criticism.
• The content of feedback – concentrate on relevance and go to the point
• Justification for their marks – Feedback should justify the grading you are
awarding. E.g. you should avoid stating that they did very well in criteria 1 and
then provide a very low mark on criteria 1.
• What the student should do next to make this a better submission – what they
should concentrate on to improve this essay and any other essays
•
• You are asked to write the final student mark at the back of this page.
The Peer Assessment Forms
FEEDBACK FORM
please use the assessment criteria just agreed in your group
Criteria 1
Title:
Feedback:
Criteria 2
Title:
Feedback:
Criteria 3
Title:
Feedback:
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The Results
• 48 students completed questionnaire at
end of peer-assessment exercise
• 33% male, 67% female
• 87% aged 19-21
• 92% on BA Marketing,
• 89% had experienced peer assessment
before for written work and 26% for
presentations
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Q5. How difficult was it for you to provide feedback
for the assessment that you marked?
Q8. How difficult was it for you to provide a final mark for the assessment
that you marked?
2%
10%
4%
Q5
Q8
13%
very difficult
25%
35%
quite difficult
a. very difficult
not very difficult
b. quite difficult
not difficult at all
c. not very difficult
d. not difficult at all
53%
58%
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Q9. Did you feel the peer-assessment exercise
contributed to your overall learning experience
related to assessment? POSITIVE
Viewing other students’ work
Understanding of
assessment criteria
Other students interpret work (1) Assessment criteria
How other people approached
understanding (1)
the same task (2)
knowing criteria (12)
Good to see the way my peers
have done the work (11)
Knowledge or marking
Showed others work (17)
criteria (23)
it was a good idea to read other Found out the model answer
students' essays (21)
criteria (39)
comparison of other students
work (23)
It is really good to be able to
have a critical view of others'
work (33)
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Q9. Did you feel the peer-assessment exercise
contributed to your overall learning experience
related to assessment? POSITIVE
How assessments are marked Structure and proof
reading
How assessment are marked
helps make us realise where our work
stands
gives us an insight into marking process
Useful to learn how to mark
Understanding how marking is done
Gives me an insight to marking in
general
More aware of marking standards
Seeing how your work is marked
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realise importance of getting
someone else to read work before
submitting in case of vocab /
grammar mistakes
Structure
It showed me other peoples styles
of essay writing
it helps to see different ads
examples and different structures
Q9. Did you feel the peer-assessment exercise
contributed to your overall learning experience
related to assessment? POSITIVE
Doing assignment with marking criteria in mind, being critical
Helps working this in mind
could see what to do and not to do
Helped to be more critical
Good to analyze the work
Makes you think about how you can improve your work
helped to distinguish what is being asked of
understanding how the essay is meant to be, style, content, etc.
it helps me with further essays
Idea of how to do it or not to do it next time
Showed me how or what to do include in assignments in the future
Better understanding of the assessment and how to go about writing it again
Ways you could improve assignment for next time
Show me where I went wrong
Helps me notice my flaws
I learned
about the marking criteria
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Q9. Did you feel the peer-assessment exercise
contributed to your overall learning experience
related to assessment? NEGATIVE
• Students felt it did not teach them
anything
•No relevant to module of Advertising
•Because of logistics
•Not useful because tutor assessment
criteria was different
•Because teachers are trained in
assessing
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Q10: What % of final mark should peer
assessment count towards?
25
20
15
10
5
0
a. 0%
20
b. 5%
c. 10%
d. 15%
e. 20%
f. 25%
g. 30%
21
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6
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4
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Q11: In how many modules per
year? (out of 8)
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Q11: At which level?
3%
a. Year 1
13%
b. Year 2
c. Year 3
d. None
50%
34%
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Q13: Overall experience of peer
assessment?
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
"5" excellent
23
"4"
"3"
"2"
"1" very poor
How did student marks compare
with tutor’s marks?
Value
%
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Same Under Over
Mark marked marked
21
21
10
44%
44%
21%
What % over or under tutor’s marks? Mark
awarded by student as % of mark awarded by
tutor by same piece of work
140%
120%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
1
25
3
5
7
9
11
13
15
17
19
21
23
25
27
29
31
33
35
37
39
41
43
45
47
49
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The way forward
•
•
•
•
Write up the results fully
Make further links with the literature review
Share and discuss further with colleagues
Consider if peer marks can be “counted”
towards assessment for modules without
being overseen by tutors
• Consider what % of marks for peer
assessment
•26 At what level of study?
Thanks for listening!
Any Questions? Any comments?
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