Peer assessment

In my previous post Learning from each other I discussed the idea of peer learning, where children are encouraged to teach each other. While exploring peer learning I also raised the question of peer assessment, and wondered whether some teachers might think this would be a bridge too far. Here are some further thoughts...

Peer assessment is clearly a more complex proposition than peer learning. In peer learning, children all know something and can impart these ideas to each other through sharing, collaboration and team working. In peer assessment, a certain amount of additional prior knowledge is required, and where assessment is based on a specific set of criteria that knowledge would need to be domain relevant. To be fair, most of the forms of peer assessment witnessed in a classroom are completely informal and don't rely on specific criteria.

Those who formally assess keep in mind what is good, acceptable and poor in terms of performance or knowledge reproduction. Is it therefore fair or reasonable for children to be expected to act as peer assessors? Some would argue no, that the children are there to learn, and are not equipped with the skills and knowledge required to assess the learning of their peers. The issues of authenticity and validity arise, and there are questions over the negative psychological impact of having to give and receive feedback about poor performance from friends.

Yet some might argue that if children are knowledgeable enough to peer teach, they should also be in a good position to ascertain if their peers have sufficiently learnt the content. Moreover, many teachers extol the benefits of peer assessment, claiming that those who assess the learning of others are also able to more deeply learn the processes that underlie learning, and also become more aware of what makes a good piece of work. Being exposed to this process, they become stronger learners as a result. Clearly there are several benefits as well as risks in peer assessment and learning. So - peer assessment for children - is it a good or a bad idea?

Photo source: Flickr


Peer assessment by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Learning from each other

There has been extensive work around the concept of students teaching each other - otherwise known as peer learning. This approach to pedagogy has its roots in Vygotskiian Zone of Proximal Development theory, where a more knowledgeable other, whether teacher, adult or simply a better informed peer, can extend someone's learning experience beyond what they might achieve alone (Vygotsky, 1978).  But peer education can also be reciprocal. In terms of Corneli and Danoff's (2011) and Corneli (2012) approach - paragogy - anyone can teach anyone else, because everyone knows something, but no-one knows everything. Students can even teach their teachers, in an extreme form of flipped learning I mentioned in a previous post.

It all sounds very democratic, but exactly how might it work?

In paragogy, students can exchange knowledge and can be learning from each other simultaneously. This is not something ZPD theory explicitly takes into account. Whenever I have seen this kind of reciprocal learning occur, it has emerged during intense discussions or more commonly, during collaborative learning, where a small group solve a problem or address a complex issue. Some of the best reciprocal peer learning I have witnessed has been around group production of artefacts such as video production.

The original ZPD concept was intended to be asymmetric - that a novice would be extended in their ability, knowledge or competency by the more knowledgeable other, but only in one direction. It was a formal pedagogical principle. However, the more one teaches, the more it becomes apparent that such lines of demarcation are notional at best, and that peer learning can readily occur informally across small groups, or even entire networks of individuals.

Peer learning is rarely asymmetric, and is not restricted to dyads.  But what about peer assessment? I'll develop that question further in my next post...

References
Corneli, J. and Danoff, C. J. (2011) Paragogy. In: Proceedings of the 6th Open Knowledge Conference, Berlin, Germany.
Corneli, J. (2012) Paragogical Praxis, E-Learning and Digital Media, 9(3), 267-272.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) Mind in Society, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Photo by Primary Source on Flickr


Learning from each other by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.