What is self-evaluation?
Peer assessment has many advantages(see our article on the benefits of peer assessment), but to take full advantage of them, one ideal must be achieved. Its integration into an educational program comprising several methods that enrich each other. This is known as triangulation of methods (Topping, 20031; Cho & MacArthur, 20102).
In this article, we'll explain why self-assessment is the right method to combine with peer assessment. And develop the pedagogical advantages of this combination of methods for students. Let's start by defining self-evaluation. It's an assessment process in which students reflect on their work and evaluate it against given objectives or criteria(see our article on building criteria) (Andrade, 20073).
Feedback and feedback
To understand the added value of the combined use of self-assessment and peer assessment, we first need to look at how feedback (an opinion on a piece of work) enables students to make progress. For students to progress, they need to question their work, to understand its shortcomings, in order to correct and improve themselves. But questioning requires the student to agree with the feedback he receives. To do this, they compare feedback from peers and teachers - external feedback - with their own representation of their work - internal feedback. If external feedbacks are in line with his vision of his work, he will question himself; if they are not, the student will return to a state of assonance, rejecting either external or internal feedbacks (Butler & Winne, 19954).
It's easy to see why feedback is so important to student progress. This is where self-assessment becomes crucial. It enables students to become fully aware of their own internal feedback, by reflecting on their work through an evaluative process. In this way, they can compare themselves with external feedback and thus initiate the process of self-questioning. Without this internal feedback awareness stage, students receiving external feedback will tend to set up psychological defense mechanisms rejecting the external feedback. (Butler & Winne, 1995 4; Liu & Carless, 20065; Reinholz, 20166).
Peer evaluation will therefore be the source of external feedback, which will be compared with the internal feedback provided by self-evaluation. There are several other possibilities that can be added to self-evaluation to reduce the possible dissonance between external and internal feedback. This increases the chances of the student questioning his or her own progress.
The pedagogical advantages of the method
In addition to enabling students to make progress through self-questioning, self-assessment coupled with peer assessment has other advantages.
Self-evaluation enables students to reflect on their work and the processes they put in place to produce it. This metacognition enables them to better understand the expectations of their work, and thus to perform better in peer assessment (Wanner & Palmer, 20187). In the same way, peer assessment enables the student to be a better assessor and therefore more effective at self-assessment (Bostock, 20008; To & Panadero, 2019). By using both methods on a regular basis, we enter a virtuous circle of progress.
What's more, within the same activity, if self-assessment and peer assessment share the same criteria grid, then students become familiar with the tool, which reinforces the quality of their assessments (Rust, Price & O'Donovan, 200310).
By preceding peer assessment with self-assessment, students feel more confident as assessors (Rust, Price & O'Donovan, 200310), which addresses a fear students have about their abilities as assessors (Panadero, 20169).
Self-assessment and peer assessment develop students' critical and reflective thinking skills, so combining them creates a comprehensive system that enables optimal development of these skills (Falchikov, 198611; Hanrahan & Isaacs, 2001 ; Wanner & Palmer 20187). In the long term, this leads to more sustainable learning for students (Lynch, 201212).
Points to bear in mind
There are several points to bear in mind when applying the method, so that students can benefit fully from these advantages.
Understanding the method
If the peer evaluation and the teacher evaluation match, the student will have more sources for rejecting his or her internal feedback. If they don't, then it's a sign to the teacher that the students have misunderstood the course or the peer evaluation method.
Taking a step back
Leave some time between peer assessment and feedback. This will allow the student to step back from his or her work and emotionally disengage, making him or her more inclined to listen to external feedback.
Organizing a meeting
Organizing meetings between the evaluating student and the evaluated student to discuss their respective points of view will also help students to accept external feedback.
Bibliography :
1 Topping, K. (2003). Self and peer assessment in school and university: Reliability, validity and utility. In Optimising new modes of assessment: In search of qualities and standards (pp. 55-87). Springer, Dordrecht.
2 Cho, K., and C. MacArthur. 2010. "Student Revision with Peer and Expert Reviewing." Learning and Instruction 20 (4): 328-338. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2009.08.006
3 Andrade, H. & Du, Y. (2007). Student responses to criteria-referenced self-Assessment. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 32 (2), 159- 181
4 Butler, D. L., and P. H. Winne. 1995. "Feedback and Self-Regulated Learning: A Theoretical Synthesis." Review of Educational Research 65 (3): 245-281. doi:10.3102/00346543065003245
5 Liu, N.-F., & Carless, D. (2006). Peer feedback: the learning element of peer assessment. Teaching in Higher Education, 11(3), 279-290. doi:10.1080/13562510600680582
6 Reinholz, D. 2016. "The Assessment Cycle: A Model for Learning through Peer Assessment." Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 41 (2): 301-315. doi:10.1080/02602938.2015.1008982.
7 Wanner, T., & Palmer, E. (2018). Formative self-and peer assessment for improved student learning: the crucial factors of design, teacher participation and feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 1-16. doi:10.1080/02602938.2018.1427698
8 Bostock, S. (2000). Student peer assessment. Learning Technology, 5(1), 245-249v
9 Panadero, E. 2016. "Is It Safe? Social, Interpersonal, and Human Effects of Peer Assessment: A Review and Future Directions." In Handbook of Human and Social Conditions in Assessment, edited by B. Gavin and L. Harris, 247-266. New York: Routledge
10 Rust, C., M. Price, and B. O'Donovan. 2003. "Improving Students' Learning by Developing Their Understanding of Assessment Criteria and Processes." Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 28 (2): 147-164. doi:10.1080/ 02602930301671.
11 Falchikov, N. 1986. "Product Comparisons and Process Benefits of Collaborative Peer and Self-Assessments." Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 11: 146-166. doi:10.1080/0260293860110206
12 Topping, K. (2003). Self and peer assessment in school and university: Reliability, validity and utility. In Optimising new modes of assessment: In search of qualities and standards (pp. 55-87). Springer, Dordrecht.
