Introduction
When students are given the opportunity to evaluate other students’ work, they can increase their understanding of the subject matter while developing a transferable skill set (Dochy, Segers, & Sluijsmans, 1999; Nicol, Thomson, & Breslin, 2014). With peer assessment, students learn by giving feedback to peers and by receiving peers’ feedback on their work.
But, do students know how to review each other’s work and how to provide critical and constructive feedback? Available research suggests students’ assessments are reliable and valid when compared against instructors’ ratings (see Falchikov & Goldfinch, 2000; Paré & Joordens, 2008; Topping, 1998). However, students often are reluctant to trust their peers’ abilities, and the quality of feedback can be highly variable (Graf, Rawn, & Ferguson, unpublished data).
The Peer Assessment Training (PAT) workshop, developed by the Teaching Learning Enhancement fund at UBC, aims to prepare students–particularly those in large classes–to conduct peer assessment effectively and to build trust among peers. It is a self-directed online workshop where students can demonstrate they have read the grading rubric and can practice their peer assessment skills using that rubric, prior to engaging in peer assessment activities in your class.
Upon completion of this Peer Assessment Training Workshop, your students will be able to:
- Critically analyze and evaluate the work of peers using the assignment description and rubric
- Benefit from the critical and constructive comments written by others
- Write critical and constructive comments on peers’ work
The PAT workshop template can be customized to suit the needs of each course.
To help faculty prepare students for peer assessment, we developed Peer Assessment Training (PAT) workshop templates which are shared through Canvas Commons. This website includes the following information that will help you import the PAT template to your course site in Canvas and customize it to suit your needs.
- Planning for Peer Assessment provides a brief guide on what to consider when you incorporate peer assessment assignment(s).
- About PAT Workshop provides an overview of the PAT template and links to set-up guides that help you create customized Peer Assessment Training workshop for your students.
- Case Examples explains how the Peer Assessment Training workshop was first envisioned by Drs. Peter Graf and Catherine Rawn for use in their Introductory Psychology courses.