Peer and Self Assessment

Assessing Learning

Peer and Self Assessment

Peer Assessment

One of the ways in which students internalize the characteristics

of quality work is by evaluating the work of their peers. However,
if they are to offer helpful feedback, students must have a clear
understanding of what they are to look for in their peers' work.
The instructor must explain expectations clearly to them before
they begin.

One way to make sure students understand this type of evaluation

is to give students a practice session with it. The instructor
provides a sample writing or speaking assignment. As a group,
students determine what should be assessed and how criteria for
successful completion of the communication task should be
defined. Then the instructor gives students a sample completed
assignment. Students assess this using the criteria they have
developed, and determine how to convey feedback clearly to the
fictitious student.

Students can also benefit from using rubrics or checklists to guide POPUP: PEER
their assessments. At first these can be provided by the instructor; EDITING
once the students have more experience, they can develop them CHECKLIST
themselves. An example of a peer editing checklist for a writing
assignment is given in the popup window. Notice that the
checklist asks the peer evaluator to comment primarily on the
content and organization of the essay. It helps the peer evaluator
focus on these areas by asking questions about specific points,
such as the presence of examples to support the ideas discussed.

For peer evaluation to work effectively, the learning environment

in the classroom must be supportive. Students must feel
comfortable and trust one another in order to provide honest and
constructive feedback. Instructors who use group work and peer
assessment frequently can help students develop trust by forming
them into small groups early in the semester and having them
work in the same groups throughout the term. This allows them to
become more comfortable with each other and leads to better peer
feedback.

Self Assessment

Students can become better language learners when they engage

in deliberate thought about what they are learning and how they
are learning it. In this kind of reflection, students step back from
the learning process to think about their language learning
strategies and their progress as language learners. Such self
assessment encourages students to become independent learners

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and can increase their motivation.

The successful use of student self assessment depends on three

key elements:

● Goal setting
● Guided practice with assessment tools POPUP: SETTING
● Portfolios SMART GOALS

Goal setting

Goal setting is essential because students can evaluate their

progress more clearly when they have targets against which to
measure their performance. In addition, students' motivation to
learn increases when they have self-defined, and therefore
relevant, learning goals.

At first, students tend to create lofty long-range goals ("to speak

Russian)" that do not lend themselves to self assessment. To help
students develop realistic, short-term, attainable goals,
instructors can use a framework like SMART goals outline shown
in the popup window.

One way to begin the process of introducing students to self-

assessment is to create student-teacher contracts. Contracts are
written agreements between students and instructors, which
commonly involve determining the number and type of
assignments that are required for particular grades. For example,
a student may agree to work toward the grade of "B" by
completing a specific number of assignments at a level of quality
described by the instructor. Contracts can serve as a good way of
helping students to begin to consider establishing goals for POPUP:
themselves as language learners. LANGUAGE USE
SELF EVALUATION
Guided practice with assessment tools

Students do not learn to monitor or assess their learning on their

own; they need to be taught strategies for self monitoring and self
assessment. Techniques for teaching students these strategies are
parallel to those used for teaching learning strategies (see
Motivating Learners). The instructor models the technique (use of
a checklist or rubric, for example); students then try the technique
themselves; finally, students discuss whether and how well the
technique worked and what to do differently next time.

In addition to checklists and rubrics for specific communication

tasks, students can also use broader self-assessment tools to
reflect on topics they have studied, skills they have learned, their
study habits, and their sense of their overall strengths and
weaknesses. An example of such a tool appears in the popup
window.

Students can share their self-assessments with a peer or in a small

group, with instructions that they compare their impressions with
other criteria such as test scores, teacher evaluations, and peers'
opinions. This kind of practice helps students to be aware of their
learning. It also informs the teacher about students' thoughts on

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their progress, and gives the teacher feedback about course

content and instruction.

Portfolios

Portfolios are purposeful, organized, systematic collections of

student work that tell the story of a student's efforts, progress,
and achievement in specific areas. The student participates in the
selection of portfolio content, the development of guidelines for
selection, and the definition of criteria for judging merit. Portfolio
assessment is a joint process for instructor and student.

Portfolio assessment emphasizes evaluation of students' progress,

processes, and performance over time. There are two basic types
of portfolios: BACK TO THE
ACTFL
● A process portfolio serves the purpose of classroom-level GUIDELINES
assessment on the part of both the instructor and the
student. It most often reflects formative assessment, ON TO
although it may be assigned a grade at the end of the RESOURCES
semester or academic year. It may also include summative
types of assignments that were awarded grades.
● A product portfolio is more summative in nature. It is
intended for a major evaluation of some sort and is often
accompanied by an oral presentation of its contents. For
example, it may be used as a evaluation tool for graduation
from a program or for the purpose of seeking employment.

In both types of portfolios, emphasis is placed on including a

variety of tasks that elicit spontaneous as well as planned
language performance for a variety of purposes and audiences,
using rubrics to assess performance, and demonstrating reflection
about learning, including goal setting and self and peer
assessment.

Portfolio characteristics:

● Represent an emphasis on language use and cultural

understanding
● Represent a collaborative approach to assessment
● Represent a student's range of performance in reading,
writing, speaking, and listening as well as cultural
understanding
● Emphasize what students can do rather than what they
cannot do
● Represent a student's progress over time
● Engage students in establishing ongoing learning goals and
assessing their progress towards those goals
● Measure each student's achievement while allowing for
individual differences between students in a class
● Address improvement, effort, and achievement
● Allow for assessment of process and product
● Link teaching and assessment to learning

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