Defining and redefining student success: Building assessment around the process of student learning Miranda Sin I Ma Senior Instructor, ELC Coordinator, Writing Centre Faculty Coordinator, CTLE

Wearing different hats

What is successful teaching/learning to you?

Successful student Successful teaching Successful learning Success?

What have you done to reward students in the past for their successes?

Let’s pause for a moment & switch gears

Peer Review

Studies on the use of peer review in second language writing

Study 1 Hu (2005) Hu (2005) carried out a 3-year project where he adopted, created, and implemented 19 peer review training activities in his classes. These activities were categorized under their function including awareness- raising, demonstration, practice, reflection and instruction, explanation of procedures, and pre-response review. A total of 4, 13, and 15 activites were used repectively in 2001, 2002, and It was concluded that peer review was conducted most successfully in 2003.

Study 2 Min (2006) Min (2006) demonstrated how trained peer review can be effective by investigating the incorporation of peer feedback in the feedback receivers’ subsequent drafts.

Study 3 Lam (2010)

To sum up, Based on these studies (and many of the same kind), success is usually measured by: – uptake of peer feedback – accuracy of the peer feedback – quality of the revisions What are my goals of using peer review in my class?

So far we have defined what successful teaching and learning is from your teacher perspective looked at how peer review can be done successfully from your researcher perspective now let’s switch gears again

Now you are all my students learning how to do peer review!

Providing peer feedback Prompt: “Examine why people develop phobias and discuss how a phobia can affect people’s lives.” A lot of people in the world suffer from phobias and it is a terrible problem. It can make life very difficult. Imagine you were afraid of meeting new people and you had a job like a teacher where you met a lot of new people all the time. Perhaps you would even have to leave your job. We don’t know why people develop phobias, although they may be caused by a bad experience. For example, an experience like being bitten by a dog may lead to fear of dogs or if you see something bad happen to someone else, you might develop a phobia about what happened to them. Family may also be an important factor in deciding if someone develops a phobia. Phobias could be genetic or they could be learnt. The effects of phobias are much easier to identify. In the short term there are a range of physical symptoms that can be brought on by a phobia, which range from sweating to nausea to feeling faint or a lack of sleep and problems with concentrating. A phobia can also change the way a person lives their lives and have considerable long term effects. A phobia may stop someone from being able to do their job. In conclusion, bad experiences and family may cause phobias and phobias can have very bad effects on people’s lives such as not having any friends or not being able to keep a job.

How many of the same questions in the comment boxes did you get? How many of you are “successful” peer reviewers?

Let’s rewind. I will give you another chance.

Generate criteria of a good peer feedback giver & receiver

One thing that I am teaching recently peer review

Step 1 Intro to peer review (PR) Step 2 Ss practice PR on their own Step 3 Ss peer review the same text as a class Step 4 Ss review sample peer review questions provided by the teacher Step 5 Ss Compare their own questions w/ the sample questions Step 6 Students get credit for asking good questions on the quiz

Benjamin’s revised draft

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How I define success for student peer review …

My peer review journey PR sample1 PR sample 2 PR sample 3 PR sample 4 PR sample 5

Doubts about the purpose of peer review Hesitant about commenting on others’ work Inability to recognize problems Inability to read deeper into the text Inability to give quality feedback Challenges with Peer Review Insufficient time Ability to recognize some problems Ability to interact with the text/writer Ability to filter through their peer feedback Ability to give some meaningful feedback Willingness to offer feedback My idea of a “successful” peer review session

Redefining success Understanding students’ “ability” and “inability” through Vygotsky’s (1978) “Zone of Proximal Development” (ZPD) Vygotsky (1978) defines the zone of proximal development as “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (p. 86). Focus on students’ “ability” rather than the “inability”

How long does it take … To internalize a new vocabulary word? To internalize the skill to facilitate a meeting? To internalize intercultural competence? To internalize the skill to conduct an experiment? Not one class Not two classes --- LONG! What matters is the process. Give students credit for the learning process!

Based on my definition, the “success” of a peer review session is measured by: – Uptake of peer feedback – Accuracy of the peer feedback – Quality of the revisions The thought behind the feedback

Hard to relate? Watch this maybe…

Challenges that my definition faces… Difficulty in measurement Students are conditioned to get the “right answer” as well

Ways to measure the “unmeasurable” The yes/no check list Purpose-specific rubrics o Designed based on your general criteria o E.g. Reciprocal teaching (summarize, question, clarify, predict) Student-generated rubrics Impression marking Quizzes made to understand students’ progress Critical reflections “We do not learn from experience. Experience has to be arrested, examined, analysed, considered and negotiated in order to shift it to knowledge.” - H. Stroobants, P. Chambers and B. Clarke

Doubts about the purpose of peer review Hesitant about commenting on others’ work Inability to recognize problems Inability to read deeper into the text Inability to give quality feedback Challenges with Peer Review Insufficient time Ability to recognize some problems Ability to interact with the text/writer Ability to filter through their peer feedback Ability to give some meaningful feedback Willingness to offer feedback My idea of a “successful” peer review session

Your turn to redefine success What? Why? How?

References Hu, G. (2002). Potential cultural resistance to pedagogical imports: the case of communicative language teaching in China. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 15(2), Hu, G. (2005). Using peer review with Chinese ESL student writers. Language Teaching Research, 9(3), Lam, R. (2010). A peer review training workshop: Coaching students to give and evaluate peer feedback. Tesl Canada Journal, 27(2), Min, H. (2006). The effects of trained peer review on EFL students’ revision types and writing quality. Journal of Second Language Writing, 15(2), Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Q & A

Defining and redefining student success: Building assessment around the process of student learning Thank you! Miranda Sin I Ma Senior Instructor, ELC Coordinator, Writing Centre Faculty Coordinator, CTLE