Assessment for Learning: Using Peer Assessment in Higher Education

Abstract

Assessment for learning has great potential to improve teaching and learning by requiring both students and teachers to become more reflective about their roles in the learning environment. Moving from ‘learning to assess’ to ‘learning through assessment’ make students more responsible for their learning and requires changes in pedagogical and assessment strategies. As learning environments become more digital, new methods and tools are available and required to meet the needs of an increasingly global and technological society, where critical thinking and problem solving should be key elements in education. This paper reports on the use of peer-assessment in an e-learning course in higher education, in a student-centred assessment approach that promoted in students a deeper insight into the quality of their own work through the assessment of their peers’ work. Students took responsibility for assessing their peers’ work using previous defined and understood assessment criteria. The results showed that students became more aware of their level of performance and how they could improve their performance. This practice research provides evidence of how the participatory role of students in assessment processes can promote a sense of ownership and autonomy in the learning process and its outcomes.

Presenters

Rita Cadima
Researcher / Teacher, School of Education and Social Sciences, Politécnico de Leiria, Leiria, Portugal

Isabel Pereira
Teacher and Researcher, Comunication, Education and Psychology, School of Education and Social Sciences, Polytechnic of Leiria, Portugal

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Considering Digital Pedagogies

KEYWORDS

Assessment for Learning; Peer-Assessment; Innovative Pedagogies; Higher Education