){kind=logo}
){kind=icon}
){kind=logo}
){kind=icon}
Peer evaluation is a form of co-evaluation involving classmates analyzing a student’s work. To do this, students use a rubric that serves as a guide to evaluate their peers’ performance, the activity’s quality, or the result. The role of teachers is key to effective peer review, as they are the persons who guide the students and ensure that the process is fair. Likewise, the teacher must provide a frame of reference that helps eliminate subjectivity in evaluations and promotes constructive criticism, allowing both the evaluator and the evaluated to learn.
Evaluating the work of others provides students with a better idea of a well-done project, task, or activity. Peer assessment effectively identifies strengths, weaknesses, and areas where students need to develop their understanding further.
Peer assessment help students learn from their colleagues’ successes and mistakes concerning their work.
Recommendations for Successfully Implementing Peer Review
1. Identify the learning activity for which a peer review is helpful. This type of assessment is effective when applied in activities requiring problem-solving, inquiry and questioning, application of learning, reflective judgment, and critical thinking. Examples include essays, writing exercises, summaries, and questions for reading comprehension.
2. Establish evaluation criteria. It is essential to guide students in their assessments and ensure that activities or assignments are evaluated under the same rules. Use the following guiding questions and review the complete guide proposed by The University of British Columbia and The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT, 2020):
The guiding questions above can assist a peer evaluation as applied to understanding a topic for which the student will develop a writing project, for example. In this case, one of the criteria in the evaluation rubric could be: “The different parts of the article or essay are developed coherently, with the appropriate and varied use of vocabulary and grammatical structures.” The dynamic would be for students to assign a grade through a teacher-designed rubric. The evaluation would be carried out two weeks before the final delivery of the essay so students could review the feedback received by their colleagues and apply the changes before the final delivery of the task.
To make peer review a straightforward process for students, we recommend sharing and checking rubrics before starting any assessment.
3. Design ground rules for providing feedback. Establish the rules governing how feedback is framed and delivered. It will help build trust between the person evaluated and the evaluator. Some examples of good feedback practices might include:
Making these rules known before starting with the peer evaluation is recommended. Help the students share effective feedback that exemplifies the best practices in assignments.
4. Select the tool or platform that will host the peer review will take place. If the course is in person, it is suggested to have technological support to conduct the peer evaluation. Blackboard and Canvas are platforms that facilitate this type of activity since they have the mechanisms to organize and deliver feedback. In addition, they allow assigned times for each student to perform a peer evaluation and handle some functionalities to show the student what to do before performing the assessment. It is also possible to adjust the settings so that comments are anonymous or include student names. Often, these platforms handle an option to set the date period and the number of assignments you want each student to assess.
5. Ensure all students understand the activity, the assessment criteria, and the tools they will use to conduct the peer review. One way to check that students have understood the training and the established criteria is through a round of test practices before applying the planned assessment.
6. Discuss with students the benefits of peer review. Explain how it benefits students’ learning and personal development, as this will encourage greater acceptance and motivate students to take the process seriously.
7. Define the value of peer review within the overall assessment. Decide how much impact the peer review process should have on the overall course assessment and the results. Discuss this information with students early on.
8. Poll the students and pay attention to their feedback to improve peer review. Consider student perceptions and gather input on the peer review process. It can help improve the design and direction of the activity to reduce uncertainty and anxiety. Ask questions like: Was the purpose clear to you? How do you feel about the grades assigned?
Relevant cases of peer evaluation in other institutions
In the literature, we can find several success stories of peer evaluation. The University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria conducted a peer evaluation of an opinion essay in English. The results show that this strategy improved the essays’ quality and helped students better understand this type of writing. (Vera-Cazorla, 2014).
In the Geneva Global Community in Uganda, the teachers used peer assessment to encourage feedback among students. The results showed that students improved their analytical and critical thinking skills while learning to receive and accept constructive criticism about their performance during the evaluation. (Richard-Okidi, 2022).
Similarly, the Department of Accounting at Deakin Business School in Australia did a study on students’ perceptions of the relevance of peer review were examined. Students improved communication within their team and the quality of contribution in their work (Bhavani Sridharan, Mohammad Badrul M y Dessalegn Getie Mihret, 2018).
Benefits of Peer Review
1. When we allow students to participate in the assessment process, they become more aware of what is expected of them and have greater confidence in the assessment process.
2. Peer review supports student learning by generating opportunities for analysis and feedback on other students’ work.
3. Students learn from their peers’ visions and different approaches.
4. It encourages dialogue, interaction, and the exchange of common meanings with peers.
5. It develops critical thinking, effective communication, and problem-solving skills in evaluating and delivering feedback.
6. It allows students to make a final and thorough review of their work before submitting it for evaluation.
7. It increases students’ confidence when faced with assessment and gives them a clearer understanding of improving their performance (Arts ISIT at The University of British Columbia, n.d.).
Peer evaluation is a recommended assessment strategy for any modality, whether online, face-to-face or hybrid. It allows students to gain a greater understanding of the activity and the content. In addition, well-directed peer review strengthens critical thinking skills, always respects the partner’s work, and makes peer evaluation effective.
Consider incorporating peer evaluation in your class. With this, you will achieve that students improve their analytical skills, have greater confidence in their learning activities, enhance their understanding of a topic and become more involved in their learning. This assessment develops students’ interpersonal skills and helps them identify their strengths and areas of improvement they will put into practice in future learning activities.
About the authors
Claudia Janeth Hernández Cardona (claudiahdz@tec.mx) has a degree in Pedagogy and a master’s degree in Educational Administration. She currently works as a pedagogical architect; some of her functions are the innovation of models, accompaniment to teachers, consulting, and collaboration in the different strategic projects of the Tec21 Educational Model.
Karla Margarita Banda Martínez (karla-banda@tec.mx) has a degree in Applied Linguistics with an emphasis on Didactics and a Master’s in Educational Technology with certification in Design Thinking. She has worked on innovative pedagogical model design activities and is currently a Solution Design Leader.
References
Arts ISIT at The University of British Columbia. (s. f.). Ideas and Strategies for Peer Assessments. https://isit.arts.ubc.ca/ideas-and-strategies-for-peer-assessments/
Bhavani Sridharan, Mohammad Badrul Muttakin & Dessalegn Getie Mihret (2018) Students’ perceptions of peer assessment effectiveness: an explorative study, Accounting Education, 27:3, 259-285, DOI: 10.1080/09639284.2018.1476894
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at Iowa State University. (2020). Using Student-to-Student Peer Assessment. https://www.celt.iastate.edu/instructional-strategies/evaluating-teaching/peer-assessment/
Muskin, J. (2021). Peer assessment: a pillar of activity-based learning for quality education. HundrED. https://hundred.org/en/innovations/peer-assessment-a-pillar-of-activity-based-learning-for-quality-education
Okidi, R. (2022). Peer assessment: a pillar of activity-based learning for quality education. Recuperado de https://hundred.org/en/innovations/peer-assessment-a-pillar-of-activity-based-learning-for-quality-education
Topping, K. (2003). Self and Peer Assessment in School and University: Reliability, Validity, and Utility. Optimizing New Modes of Assessment: In Search of Qualities and Standards Innovation and Change in Professional Education Volume 1, 2003, pp 55-87 Vera-Cazorla, M. J. (2014). La evaluación formativa por pares en línea como apoyo para la enseñanza de la expresión escrita persuasiva. RED. Revista de Educación a Distancia, (43),2-17.[fecha de Consulta 18 de Agosto de 2022]. ISSN: . Disponible en: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=54732569002
Edition by Rubí Román (rubi.roman@tec.mx) – Edu bits and Webinars Editor – “Learning that inspires” – Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education of Tec de Monterrey.
Translation by Daniel Wetta.
){kind=icon}
){kind=icon}
This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 
)