Assessing student learning in diverse ways: Self- and Peer Assessment

1. Assessing student learning in diverse ways:Self- and Peer Assessment November 2010 Rosalind Duhs Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT)

2. Introductions • Name • Role • Discipline • Interest in self- and peer assessment • Any concerns? Rosalind Duhs 2010

3. Why diversity in assessment? Primarily to enhance student learning UCL strategy (ILTS 2010-2015 §51) All teaching staff are strongly encouraged to use a range of methodologies for the assessment of students, in particular to reflect the extent to which students have been trained to face the challenges of the workplace, of interdisciplinary working and of skills development. UCL will provide staff training and support in the development and use of new assessment methods.

4. Session intended learning outcomesBy the end of the session, participants will be able to: • Describe how self- and peer assessment can enhance higher order learning (Why?) • Evaluate the potential impact of self- and peer assessment on students’ ability to take responsibility for their own learning at university and beyond (Why?) • Outline a plan of action: how could your students work with self- and peer assessment? (How?) Rosalind Duhs 2010

5. A student’s experience of assessment UCL Blogs (First year undergraduates) http://www.ucl.ac.uk/transition/blogs Anna (Linguistics) Handing in my first assessment was a nightmare. I didn't know what they expected and worried that I wouldn't be good enough. Strategies to help Anna Rosalind Duhs 2010

6. Outcomes 1 and 2 • Describe how self- and peer assessment can enhance higher order learning (Why?) • Evaluate the potential impact of self- and peer assessment on students’ ability to take responsibility for their own learning at university and beyond (Why?) Rosalind Duhs 2010

7. Self- and Peer assessment: an introduction Rosalind Duhs 2010

8. What is self- and peer assessment? The process whereby students evaluate their own work (any genre - written, spoken or multimedia) and the work of their peers. Rosalind Duhs 2010

9. Self- and peer assessment: Summative and Formative assessment • Summative assessment counts towards final results in relation to learning outcomes • Formative assessment does not count towards final course grades, but measures progress and provides students with valuable feedback • Summative assessment should also be formative Rosalind Duhs 2010

10. Goals of self- and peer assessment • Increase motivation: active rather than passive role • Encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning • See mistakes as opportunities for learning rather than failures • Develop the ability to evaluate work and recognise good work • Foster deep approaches to learning Rosalind Duhs 2010

11. Enhancing higher order learning Rosalind Duhs 2010

12. What is learning/higher order learning (HOL)? From: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/cap/resources/pubs/eguides/eskills/guidelines/higher/

13. Self- and peer assessment is part of a dialogic feedback system Rosalind Duhs 2010

14. Feedback pattern to engage students 2 Draft and redraft Recommended pattern: student  student/peers/tutor  student  tutor  student  student Self Assessment Peer Assessment Tutor Assessment Feedback action plan Rosalind Duhs 2010 Rosalind Duhs 2010

15. Self- and peer assessment can be integrated into a dialogic feedback system embedding drafting and redrafting Rosalind Duhs 2010

16. To work as we do when we disseminate our research Why can’t students work in this way? • We check the criteria for submissions to journals • We ensure that we are meeting criteria (self assessment) • We ask colleagues to read our draft papers OR we work in research teams (peer assessment) • We get feedback from journals and revise our work (similar to feedback on drafts from tutors) Rosalind Duhs 2010

17. Aim: higher order learning through self- and peer assessment • Base assessment tasks on using rather than replicating knowledge, e.g. assess through problem-solving which requires knowledge-based analysis and judgement of students’ own work and their peers’ work • Assess in varied ways and include tasks which require deep engagement and relate to real-life roles and competencies: group work, evaluating your own work and the work of others Rosalind Duhs 2010

18. Outcome 2 Outline a plan of action: how could your students work with self- and peer assessment? (How?) Rosalind Duhs 2010

19. Steps in the evaluation process (van den Berg 2006 p. 20) • Analysis • Evaluation • Explanation • Revision Rosalind Duhs 2010

20. Types of evaluation • A mix of written and oral works well Rosalind Duhs 2010

21. Student configurations and allocation of marks (or not) Probably not summative(comparative inter-scorer reliability) • One to one reciprocal • Group to group • Individuals within groups – reciprocal Marks for: Feedback given (from tutor or other students) Contribution to group work (both self- and peer assessment) Rosalind Duhs 2010

22. How to do self- and peer assessment: practical steps • Devise assessment tasks which give students the opportunity to show that they have achieved intended learning outcomes; • Build in choice and drafting and redrafting with self- and peer assessment; • Self- and peer assessment can be applied to oral or filmed work, uploaded to Moodle or done during teaching sessions, also to wikis, and creating webpages together Rosalind Duhs 2010

23. Moodle – the ideal environment for self- and peer assessment Rosalind Duhs 2010

24. Teaching and learning activities, assessment tasks and assessment criteria • Write one or two learning outcomes for each assessed task so students know what is expected • Write assessment criteria for the task (or write them with your students) • Give students the chance to practise applying the criteria to short texts or video clips of presentations • Help them to try to provide constructive feedback (dummy run) Rosalind Duhs 2010

25. Self- and Peer assessment – a yardstickAssessment criteria and exemplars Rosalind Duhs 2010

26. Assessment criteria and enhanced learning When students are familiar with grading rubrics/assessment criteria and can apply them to their own learning (self-assessment) and to the learning of their colleagues (peer-assessment) their work improves. See for example O’Donovan et al (2004). Rosalind Duhs 2010

27. Promote student understanding of how work is assessed Figure: Berry O’Donovan & Chris Rust ASKe Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, (Assessment Standards Knowledge exchange) Oxford Brookes University Rosalind Duhs 2010

28. Formulating criteria See the examples on pp8-10 of the handout. The first example is based on core criteria which can be applied to any essay. The first page of the UCL example applies to a particular project. It works well to link assessment criteria to learning outcomes. Rosalind Duhs 2010

29. Provide information on constructive feedback How useful is • ’I liked it, it was good’? Feedback should include suggestions for ways of improving work. Rosalind Duhs 2010

30. Conclusionextracts from ’the seven principles of good feedback’Self- and peer assessment 1. Facilitates the development of self assessment (reflection) in learning. 3. Helps clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria, expected standards). 4. Provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance. 6. Encourages positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem. 7. Provides information to teachers that can be used to help shape teaching. (SENLEF) Rosalind Duhs 2010

31. References and further reading Biggs, J. (2003). Teaching for Quality Learning at University. 2nd ed. Buckingham: The Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press. Mentowski, M. and Associates (2000). Learning that lasts: integrating learning development, and performance in college and beyond. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. O’Donovan, B., Price, M., and Rust, C. (2004) Know what I mean? Enhancing student understanding of assessment standards and criteria. Teaching in Higher Education, Vol. 9, No. 3. Van den Berg, E., Admiraal, W., and Pilot, A. (2006) Peer assessment in university teaching: evaluating seven course designs. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 31, No. 1. Rosalind Duhs 2010