Assessment, Learning & Teaching Reflections |
Tuesday 29th November
Broaching the idea of peer-assessment with my first-year tutor group, it was interesting to observe the expressions on some of their faces. Horror and intrigue were mixed with astonishment. “Isn’t assessment the teacher’s job?” For almost all of them, this was the first time they had been asked to assess others formally, although all seemed prepared to form an opinion of their peers’ performances.
Peer-assessment is important in many ways, offering benefits for both staff and students when introduced and implemented in an appropriately controlled environment. For many of our students on vocational courses, peer-assessment is the start of experiences of assessing others that will often be followed by appraisal and evaluation of others’ performance in the workplace. It is important that we start to develop these skills whilst at university. Equally, assessment of peers helps students to consider fully the well-structured criteria we develop to help them through the assessment process whilst studying at university: using criteria in the assessment process helps them to consider how they themselves should respond to assessment criteria. Finally, from a teacher’s point of view, involving students in the assessment process allows us to pack far more formative opportunities into the students’ learning process.
Steve Jones
Leslie Silver International Faculty
