Self and peer-assessments are common ways of involving students in the assessment process. Self-assessment allows students to evaluate their own performance (e.g. knowledge of course content and tangible work) and also their learning progress (e.g. goals, strategies, learning approaches). Peer assessment, also called ‘peer review’ or ‘peer evaluation,’ asks students to review and evaluate the work of their peers. You can use self and peer assessments formatively to provide students with opportunities for improvement of their own performance, and also summatively to allow students to review and justify their assigned grades. In the context of group work, self-assessment can be used to evaluate their own contribution to the group work and peer-assessment asks for their group members’ contribution and teamwork skills (Learn more about group work in online learning in Module 4). Research shows that involving students in the assessment process encourages them to be more active in their learning and be responsible for their own learning (Falchikov, 2004).

Video: faculty voices about self and peer assessment

In this video, faculty discuss the benefits of involving students in their own assessment through self and peer evaluation.

This video is from Carleton University's Blended and Online Teaching Modules (Links to an external site.). This content is licensed CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 and is exempt from the OTP course license.

Preparing students for self and peer assessment

The ability to assess the merits of one’s own and others work is a complex cognitive and social skill that requires guidance and practice. This means that as instructors, we can’t just ask our students to assess their own work or that of their peers. It is important to build in instructional opportunities for students to develop their capacities to provide substantive feedback and make informed judgements about what counts as good work in a particular domain of knowledge.

To provide thoughtful and detailed feedback, students need guidance and practice in the following areas:

How to give constructive feedback
How to receive feedback
How to generate assessment criteria (if students participate in the development of assessment criteria/standards)
How to use a rubric/evaluation form

To prepare students, it is useful to have a practice session where the instructor provides the rationale for using self or peer assessment in the course, coaches students on how to perform this type of assessment using a well-designed rubric, answers student questions and provides an opportunity to practice these skills.

Clearly, the process requires some time and effort at the beginning, but the time investment is worthwhile, as it will lead to better self and peer assessments and more positive responses from students. It is also important to communicate to students, who are accustomed to instructor-led assessments, the value of developing the skills of self and peer assessment which are expected in the professional context. Help them understand that improving these skills will help them in their future careers.

This section is adapted from Involving Students in the Assessment Process of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education module by Queen’s University. More information and licensing is available through the Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Modules.

Self-assessment

Without any explicit self assessment components in a course, students may still engage in some sort of self-evaluation when they are engaging with course materials and assignments. However, Ambrose et al. (2010) points out “students may not accurately assess their own work without first seeing this skill demonstrated or getting some explicit instruction and practice” (p. 209). You, as an instructor, need to help students develop their own capacities to make proper judgements about how they are doing currently and how they can improve.

Some benefits of involving students in self-assessment include:

Promoting their understanding of success/assessment criteria.
Monitoring their own learning, identifying strengths and weaknesses.
Determining strategies that can be used to promote their learning.
Motivating students to put extra effort and continually grow.

Integrating self-assessment in your online course

Provide worked examples to communicate the level of work you expect.
Provide specific success criteria and explain how to self-assess their work using the criteria.
Provide multiple opportunities for students to develop the skill of self-assessment.
Consider incorporating self-assessment in the following ways:

Frequent low-stake or ungraded self-assessment quizzes
Self-reflection questions embedded in online course content
Exam wrappers
A self-reflection task as an assignment
Student-led discussion forum focusing on “muddiest point” or concepts students are struggling with.

Peer-assessment

Peer assessments have been successfully used across disciplines with many different assignment types including writing assignments, presentations, media assignments, individual projects, or group projects. For a successful implementation of peer assessment, you need to plan it out thoroughly and guide students throughout the process. Read our recommendations to reduce challenges and maximize benefits.

Benefits of formative peer-assessment include:

Receiving feedback from multiple sources.
Allowing students to receive frequent and timely feedback.
Helping students learn how to give constructive feedback.
Developing evaluative judgmental skills through assessing the work of peers.
Improving understanding of own work through reviewing their peers’ work.
Promoting a sense of learning community.

Integrating peer-assessment in your online course

Provide clear assessment criteria (ie. guiding questions, rubrics, checklists) which are understandable and usable by students. Decide the number of peer reviewers required and whether reviews will need to be anonymous or not.
Make sure students have sufficient time to make use of peer feedback.
- Emphasize written feedback as students’ learning gains are greater when they provide written feedback (Cho & Cho, 2011; Lu & Law, 2012).
- Consider using an online peer assessment tool that best matches your assignment and teaching style. Please note, to view peer assessment tools you will need to click the "Student Peer Assessments" tab.
Monitor student peer assessment activities and guide students to use feedback in their subsequent assignment.
Help students deal with emotional reactions to peer feedback and make proper judgement on the feedback they received. One effective way of doing this is sharing your personal experience with peer review!
Consider importing the Peer Assessment Training (PAT) module into your online course. This self-directed training module is designed to prepare students to provide meaningful and useful peer assessment. The site also provides a step-by-step guide on how you can import the sample module and edit it with your own materials.

If you are interested in integrating peer assessment into your course, you may find these scenarios [pdf] helpful. They also indicate what online tools can be used to support the peer assessment activity.