Peer Assessment:

How to help students give good quality feedback

Mylne DiPenta Faculty, Electronic Engineering Technician, Kingstec Campus mylene.dipenta@nscc.ca

Peer Assessment: How to Help Students Give Good-Quality Feedback by Mylne DiPenta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Introductions and Definitions

Assessment: helping students improve
Examples: Informal conversation with teacher In-class exercises Homework Examples of peer assessment in my program:

Evaluation: giving students a grade

Examples: Homework Chapter test Exam Questions about peer assessment:

Peer Assessment: students helping each other improve

Examples: Two students compare their shop work before turning it in A student helps a classmate troubleshoot a lab thats not working Students write feedback to each other about participation in a group project

Peer Evaluation: students grading each other

Examples: Students assign a grade to each others participation in a group project

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Peer Assessment: How and Why?

Why use peer assessment?
Students benefit from getting more feedback Its easier to see other peoples mistakes than your own Its easier to see other peoples strengths than your own Students practice using good judgement and respectful criticism Teachers spend less time giving simple feedback, so they can focus on more complex feedback that students cant provide Identify strengths and weaknesses using clear criteria Give specific suggestions for how to improve Focus on the students work, not their talent or intelligence

Rate the quality of this feedback

1. This joint is shiny and clean, but it is lumpy. 2. You should redo this joint, but use a higher temperature. 3. This is a good-quality joint. Good job cleaning it so thoroughly. 4. This joint is nice and shiny, well-cleaned. 5. This joint is a bit lumpy, but its really clean and shiny. Youre great at soldering. 6. This joint is shiny and clean, but it is lumpy. Good job cleaning it so thoroughly. 7. This joint is shiny and clean, but it is lumpy you might have used a temperature that was too low. Try using a higher temperature next time. 8. This joint is shiny and clean, but it is lumpy. Use a higher temperature next time. Dont worry, youre great at soldering!

Score (out of 3)

Good-quality feedback should:

Example #1: Assessing a Performance Task

Criteria for good quality soldering: Smooth Shiny Clean

Write an example of high-quality feedback:

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Example #2: Assessing Writing

Some criteria for good-quality writing: The writing answers a question The source is recent, relevant, and has been reviewed by experts The writing is clear enough that a student can summarize it The writing shows a relationship between cause and effect The writing relates to what weve learned in class

Example #3: My plan for peer assessment

Skill or task that students will assess:

Criteria:

Examples of good-quality feedback: Your classmate, Robin Moroney, has written a summary of an article in the New York Times. Use the rubric on the next page to give Robin some feedback. (http://on.wsj.com/bw13cy) Examples of poor-quality feedback:

Notes about how to incorporate this in my teaching:

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Question: _______________________________________________
Presented by: Assessed by: Date: Proposed answer:

Summary:

Does my real-world experience contradict or support this?

Title and author of original source Original Source is Reviewed? __ Recent? ________ Relevant? __
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Clarity: List any words you cannot define Anything unclear? Does it contradict itself?

Questions that need to be answered to accept this:

Cause: What do the sources tell you about cause and effect? What questions do you have about what causes what?

Questions for the future:

Connections: How does it support what weve learned in class? How does it conflict with what weve learned in class? What ideas are not connected to other ideas at all?

My conclusion:

Needs revision

Accepted p. 5

More Information about Peer Assessment and Feedback

How Not to Talk to Your Kids: The inverse power of praise
http://tinyurl.com/3y7zud Po Bronson, writing in New York Magazine, summarizes Carol Dwecks research about how praising people for talent makes them perform poorly and avoid risks, while praising them for their work improves their ability to learn.

Helping Students Give Feedback

http://tinyurl.com/cd3ep83 How to help students write feedback about clarity and completeness, even if they cant write feedback about the correctness of the answer. Author Jason Buell uses sentence frames to guide students, and discusses the link between peer-assessment and self-assessment.

Managing Feedback
http://tinyurl.com/c3so7r9 Includes a discussion of when its helpful to give feedback right away, and when its helpful to delay feedback until students are going to use it. Also talks about asking students what kind of feedback they are looking for.

Post Game Analysis 2.0 Instant Replay

http://tinyurl.com/6uq8e2o John Burk explains how to help students write feedback to themselves. Many of the ideas also apply to students writing feedback to each other. In the Comments section, theres a good discussion of how to improve the quality of feedback.

My Revised Quiz Reflection Assignment

http://tinyurl.com/cntcx5t Great examples of how students can improve their feedback. Focussed on self-assessment but applicable to peer assessment.

Categorizing My Feedback
http://tinyurl.com/cnt6hl2 A collection of sentence-starters and examples of growth-mindset focused feedback to students.

Shifting Phases
http://shiftingphases.com Mylnes blog about the trials and tribulations of community college teaching. Drop by any time to leave a comment or get in touch.

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Peer Assessment Workshop Feedback Form

Key Ideas
Not useable in my teaching

Value
Very useable in my teaching 0. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 0. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 0. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 0. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 0. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 0. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Familiarity
I disagree with this idea. Idea was new to me. Deepened earlier understanding. Provided nice reminder. I already use idea regularly. Most people already know this. I disagree with this idea. Idea was new to me. Deepened earlier understanding. Provided nice reminder. I already use idea regularly. Most people already know this. I disagree with this idea. Idea was new to me. Deepened earlier understanding. Provided nice reminder. I already use idea regularly. Most people already know this. I disagree with this idea. Idea was new to me. Deepened earlier understanding. Provided nice reminder. I already use idea regularly. Most people already know this. I disagree with this idea. Idea was new to me. Deepened earlier understanding. Provided nice reminder. I already use idea regularly. Most people already know this. I disagree with this idea. Idea was new to me. Deepened earlier understanding. Provided nice reminder. I already use idea regularly. Most people already know this.

A. Peer assessment is a process of having students improve their work based on feedback from other students.

1 2 3 4 5

B.

To give useful feedback, students will need clear criteria, demonstrations of how to give good feedback, and opportunities for practice.

Not useable in my teaching

1 2 3 4 5

Very useable in my teaching

C.

Peer assessment can help students improve their judgement about their own work

Not useable in my teaching

1 2 3 4 5

Very useable in my teaching

D. Peer assessment can help students depend less on the teacher to solve simple problems

Not useable in my teaching

1 2 3 4 5

Very useable in my teaching

E.

Good quality feedback should include a clear statement of strengths and weaknesses specific ideas about how to improve, and focus on the students work, not their talent or intelligence

Not useable in my teaching

1 2 3 4 5

Very useable in my teaching

F.

Feedback that is based on talent or intelligence can weaken student performance, while feedback based on their work can strengthen it

Not useable in my teaching

1 2 3 4 5

Very useable in my teaching

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Overall Comments
Will you use any of these ideas in your teaching next semester? If so, how? If not, why no

What did you like best about the workshop?

What changes would you recommend for the workshop?

Other comments?

Thanks for your Participation

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