The Learning and Teaching Conference nd April 2015

Utilising online peer-review as a vehicle for student learning and assessment Dr Vikki McCall Dr Ian McIntosh & Louise McIntosh School of Applied Social Science

Outline Background –What is Peer-review? –What can you learn from the process? Peermark How we used it –Undergraduate –Postgraduate Benefits and Challenges

What is Peer-review? Falchikov (1995) defines peer assessment as the process through which groups of individuals rate their peers. (in Dochy et al. 1999) Moving beyond independent to interdependent or mutual learning (Boud 1988 in Boud et al. 2001, original emphasis)

Learning from Peer-review “Peer assessment of writing and peer assessment using marks, grades, and tests have shown positive formative effects on student achievement and attitudes. These effects are as good as or better than the effects of teacher assessment” (Topping 1998: 249)

Student name

Undergraduate example Student 1: I believe that this essay is a good attempt at answering the question. However, I think that it could have been more clear and precise on HOW structure and agency are important to sociology, as this was the question, but this seems to look more at just the relationship between them and what the different theorists believe. I also think the conclusion as on the lengthy side and repeated some of what was already said in the main body of the essay. Student 2: The authors description of the theories often sent the assignment away from the question of the importance of the relationship between the two. I did however find the comparison the theories of Marx and Weber very effective in provided critique and comparison which tied the essay up nicely. Student 3: I think some ideas were presented better than others, for example in the paragraph which describes Pierre Bourdieu, I find the author has not explained Habitus that well and does not really relate this back to the question effectively. However the paragraph on Giddens is effective as it is explained well and relates to the question much more effectively.

Student name Postgraduate example Student name

Guidance Hand out

Positives Postgrad (non-optional assessment): 100% submission No requests for extension Undergrad (optional assessment) 90% turnout 19/21 students undertook the Essay 1 Peermark assignment 70/78 students undertook the Essay 2 Peermark assignment 94/102 undertook Essay 3 Peer Review [92%]

Positives Online element makes it flexible Submission numbers are very high NO requests for extension Less staff time required for marking (in theory) Students benefit from multiple reviews and a lot more feedback

Case study – Amy, MSc student “ I found the peer review task very difficult and a bit threatening at first especially since I hadn’t actually met anyone I was either reviewing or being reviewed by but the learning I gained from this was amazing. I was returning to studying after a very long time and in term 1 had produced passes in essay with comments that my content was suitable but my approach to developing and argument and critical appraisal needed work. Through both the comments from peers and also through critically reading the assignments of other students I became aware of what I could do to really improve the structure and content of my work and this was reflected in much better grades in all my subjects on term 2”

Challenges Communication, especially around how it works Students may miss out on a review? The idea of peer-assessment can be intimidating Resource intensive on the teaching side (at times) Requires increased preparation time for students and tutors.

Conclusions The online system requires preparation to use, but the Succeed system is user- friendly Peer assessment challenges both students and tutors Peer assessment can be seen to increase engagement at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels

Contact details References Boud, D. Cohen, R. and Sampson, J. (2001) Peer learning in higher education, London: Kogan Page lmt Dochy. F, Segers, M & Sluijsmans, D (1999) ‘The use of self-, peer and co-assessment in higher education: A review’, Studies in Higher Education, 24:3, Topping, K. (1998) ‘Peer Assessment Between Students in Colleges and Universities’, Review of Educational Research, 68:3,