Peer Assessment

You and your students can keep track on individual and group performance through regular Assessments. It is the fourth stage in the teacher training cycle.

What is Peer Assessment?

Students use peer assessment to provide feedback to other students in relation to the quality of their work. Peer assessment encourages collaborative learning and swapping ideas. This helps the students develop a number of critical skills. The learning process is enhanced and students gain a sophisticated grasp of the learning objectives.

Advantages

Peer assessments boost the confidence of students, encourages healthy discussions and helps them develop their communication skills.

Students learn a lot from their peers so using peer assessment increases opportunities for learning. This encourages students to take ownership of their learning and be more involved in the learning process. Therefore another benefit of peer assessment is that it makes the assessment process more clear.

Disadvantages

Peer assessment could put a strain on relationships within the classroom. Many of the activities are carried out between students in the same class. This may affect the reliability of assessments. Students may award everyone at one level. They may also pick on one person unfairly. Therefore it is necessary for teachers to keep control of the assessment conditions, grading criteria or grouping in the class.

Other benefits

Peer assessments provide students with an overview of things to be considered by teachers when marking work. Because of this, they can better understand the academic requirements. Students who assess the work of their peers learn more effectively.

Using peer assessment helps students to deepen their understanding of the subject. Get students to check assignments, cross-check class tests or lecture notes of their peers. A discussion-based activity is an effective method to analyse gaps or differences in understanding.

Use constructive feedback when carrying out the evaluation. You should build sessions on how to give feedback into your teaching to help students understand what this is.

Summary

Peer assessment has many benefits for both the student and the teacher. It makes the learning more engaging and helps develop a number of skills including communication. The teacher must manage it carefully with planning and consideration. Finally, use peer assessment with other methods such as self-assessment.

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