Peer Assessments Using iPeer 11/13/2009 Peer Assessments Using iPeer Dr. Carolyn Awalt Vinayak Melarkod Instructional Support Services UTEP

The Reason I do this: Students who are unsuccessful in assessments often seem to lack insight into the standard of their own performance, yet the ability to self-assess accurately is essential for the effective self-management of learning. Langendyk, V. (2006). Not knowing that they do not know: self-assessment accuracy of third-year medical students. Medical Education, 40 (2), 173-179.  

The Challenge How do we foster the ability to self-assess accurately?

One Solution Foster individual accountability through the use of peer and self assessment as Students complete specific learning tasks and activities Students use clear rubrics or other tools to measure their own and their peers work

1. What are peer and self assessment? Peer assessment students are involved in the assessment of the work of other students. Self assessment students are involved in and are responsible for assessing their own piece of work. It encourages students to become independent learners and can increase their motivation.

2. Why do we use them? Peer assessment Develop the ability to work cooperatively to be critical of others’ work to receive critical appraisals of, and feedback on, their own work Provide students with some insight into the criteria to be used for grading a piece of work

2. Why do we use them? Self assessment Help students develop the ability to examine and think critically about their learning Help students understand what criteria should be used in judging their work how to apply these objectively to their own work in order to facilitate their continuing learning

Students internalize the criteria for high-quality work 3. What are the benefits? Students internalize the criteria for high-quality work Students who see clear models of work that meet the standards and understand why the work meets the standards will begin to make comparisons between their performance and the Exemplars presented. Students understand the process of getting to the standard

Teachers involve students 3. What are the benefits? Teachers involve students in the monitoring process and shift some of the responsibility for documenting and justifying learning to the students

4. When is it appropriate to use? Peer Assessment - students Receive feedback as formative assessment Learn from giving feedback to other students receiving peer feedback Self Assessment - encourages reflection and self criticism

5. Challenges and possible solutions It’s your job – most professions do it Peer pressure on students not to mark down their colleagues - anonymous marking Lack of confidence in process - practice Misunderstanding the criteria - workshops

6. How to get started Be explicit about the reasons for and benefits of using peer assessment Provide clear marking criteria, and possibly involve students in discussing or negotiating the criteria. Take it slowly and prepare students for the process Keep the system simple

Give students a practice session Use rubrics or checklists Key Factors Give students a practice session Use rubrics or checklists Seek to create student trust in each other This happens, when groups Are formed early in the semester Stay together throughout the term Become more comfortable with each other which leads to better peer feedback Some research says it takes six weeks

iPeer – What is it? iPeer allows instructors to easily develop and deliver peer evaluations to their students. Instructors can compile evaluation results by student or group Designed by Faculty of Applied Science at University of British Columbia under GNU/GPL License iPeer @ UTEP http://mdl-web.iss.utep.edu/ipeer/

iPeer – Get Started Roles Student Instructor Administrator [ISS]

iPeer – Instructor 1. Add a course

iPeer – Instructor 2. Add students to the course

iPeer – Instructor 3. Create Groups

iPeer – Instructor 4. Create a simple or rubric evaluation

iPeer – Instructor 5. Students submit Evaluations (Simple Evaluation)

iPeer – Instructor 5. Students submit Evaluations (Rubric-based Evaluation)

iPeer – Instructor 6. View and generate reports of results

iPeer - Students Submit available evaluation assignments Edit their profiles

iPeer – The positive Peer and Self assessment can be an assessment of group effort OR projects and papers Student Self enrollment Work is time stamped Student Help Email to iss@utep.edu Edit their username/password any time For faculty – Courses and Evaluations do not have to be created every semester

iPeer – The negative During Self-Enrollment, students might enter wrong email address Faculty need to reassign evaluation to a group if a student is added/deleted within the evaluation time

iPeer @ UTEP Fully deployed in Fall 2008 Faculty currently using iPeer Dr. Carolyn Awalt [Teacher Education] Dr. Harry Meeuwsen [Kinesiology] Dr. Steve Roach [Computer Science] Dr. Martha Veale [Teacher Education] Instructional Support Services [Digital Academies]

Questions???