Peer And Self Assessment

Peer and Self Assessment is an effective way to get the learners involved and it gives a clear idea of what the learner is currently at and what action is needed to meet the standards and criteria. This can be done through feedback.

Effective assessment will identify individual educational needs of all children as well as informing them about their specific performances and achievements, this will then allow teachers to use approaches that are personalised to the needs of a child. Assessment can be used not only to measure learning but also to promote learning by teaching pupils how to ask questions as well as answering them, by emphasising to a child that it is acceptable to ‘have a go’ and that by giving the wrong answer is still an opportunity to learn. It further provides the student with an understanding of what levels they are working at, what level they would like to working towards, and plan on how they are going to reach that level.

From the very beginning of the course, teachers should begin to analyse their learners through initial assessment methods. The assessments best suited to guide improvements in student learning are quizzes, tests, writing assignments, and other assessments such as a group activity. These can easily give the teacher/tutor an insight into the learning needs of the learners. Also

This also includes giving clear, concise and accurate feedback to learners on their progress and achievement along with developmental comment. Any progress and achievement should be recorded in accordance with awarding

Checking their own work and progress through self-assessment is useful as this gives learners an opportunity to step back and reflect on their objectives and whether they’ve attained them.

Effective feedback will encourage the learner to progress and by knowing what and when to give feedback is half the battle won, by choosing a moment to give feedback is as valuable as the actual feedback given. The learner basically wants to know two things what is the grade? and how can I improve? The perfect time to give this feedback is as early as possible after the assignment has been completed. Any feedback during the assignment should not interfere with the assignment in progress but instead compliment the good bits and encourage rather than

Before any activity, the pupil will need to know what they are going to learn, why they are learning it and how the assessment will take place. The teacher will discuss these with the pupils before the session and when each group of children sit down to start the activity they will be explained to them again. As the pupils get used to assessing their own work, they will find it easier to look at their own work naturally. As well as the objective for the activity, the pupils will need to know their own personalised learning goal so that they can integrate them. One example of how we do this at our setting is by having a learning activity

When the teacher shares and explain the learning objective with the pupils they will be giving the pupils a clear understanding of what they are to learn, they can check the childs understanding by asking questions, the support learning practitioner will also need to be aware of the learning objective.

There are many reasons why we assess learners. Assessments enable tutors to measure learner’s progress towards their goal. And feedback can be given to help them such as outlining their strengths and weaknesses. Feedback is used to help learners learn and improve, and is the most important aspect of formative assessment. This can be given in various ways such as written, oral, in the form of graded/marked assignment etc. When giving feedback it is good practice to bear in mind the following points. It is important to give immediate feedback if possible; turn negative comment into constructive comments such as what to improve on before the next assessment; make assessment criteria clear, accurate and available; feedback to be clear, accurate and recorded; praise learner on achievement; encourage positive attitudes and make further suggestions. Learners can be encouraged through communication of how well they are doing and what skills and knowledge they are developing.

Feedback is important in an assessment but it must not be negative, just be constructive but positive. You can use a sandwich approach; start with positive feedback, then constructive feedback, the ending on positive note. Giving the learner a positive action plan and reassurance that it can be achieved.

Assessment opportunities should be created during each lesson in an informal way. This can be through having a conversation with a learner about what has happened during the lesson and asking some key questions to see if they are able to show that they have understood and therefore, the objectives have been met.

The reaction to my peer assessment was different from what I anticipated it would be. I know I am not that star academic and or extremely physically fit, as a leader this matters. These areas matter because you are supposed to lead by example in all aspects. I was humbled after finding out my scores and having the feedback session with peers. It also touched me that my peers thought highly of me in most categories regardless of my short comings in the above-mentioned areas. I am my own worst critic and my peers had less improvement feedbacks for me than I do for myself. That was humbling for me that they are not focusing every struggle I know I have and that I am still being able to “lead” confidently in their eyes.

The judging of peer assessment based on what is of more importance is like sending a child to school without materials.While each criterion has a place of importance however they produced many quality results when put together in assessing students work.

Ideas are the evidence of critical thinking, making them important in the task of peer assessment. Proper use of grammar and punctuation is equally important when peer assessment is taking place online because the misuse of either can drastically change the meaning of an idea, in the same way that a tone of voice can change the meaning of a verbal statement. The use of asynchronous discussion highlights the importance of researching a topic before responding or judging. The same can be said for assessing a peer response to a topic that is contrary to one’s own personal beliefs or values: By doing additional research, the assessor can familiarize themselves on what facts might cause a person to have different ideas, so the assessor can then

Assessment enables educators to provide feedback to their learners, this in turn promotes self-evaluation by the learner, as they use the assessment feedback to scrutinise and make judgements about the quality of their work (Spiller, 2009:6 & 7).