# data[].attributes.body
Peer assessment involves students taking responsibility for assessing the work of their peers against set assessment criteria. They can therefore be engaged in providing feedback to their peers (sometimes referred to as peer review), summative grades (moderated by you or your colleagues), or a combination of the two. It's a powerful way for your students to act as the 'assessor' and to gain an opportunity to better understand assessment criteria It can also transfer some ownership of the assessment process to them, thereby potentially increasing their motivation and engagement. In doing so, your students might be encouraged to learn more deeply, building up their understanding, rather than just their knowledge of the facts, as well as gaining an insight into their own approach to an assessment task in comparison to their peers.

This makes peer assessment an important component of Assessment for Learning, rather than simply a means of measuring performance. You may find that peer assessment is particularly useful in aiding your students to develop judgement skills, critiquing abilities and self-awareness.

You can use peer assessment for assessing both individual efforts and contributions to group work across a wide variety of activities. You can design peer assessment to be done openly, encouraging comparison and discussion, or anonymously depending on the assessment task and context. The key point is for you to to ensure that the participants (both your students and your colleagues) understand the purpose of peer assessment and what is expected of them. Preparation and clear assessment criteria are essential to supporting 'good' peer assessment.

# data[].attributes.body
Self-assessment, where students assess each other and themselves, can encourage students to take greater responsibility for their learning, for example, by encouraging engagement with assessment criteria and reflection of their own performance and that of their peers. Through this, students can learn from their previous mistakes, identify their strengths and weaknesses and learn to target their learning accordingly. Getting students to become more active in their learning in this way can help to alter the perception of learning as being a passive process whereby students listen to you and absorb the information in order to regurgitate during a subsequent assignment. If students are participants rather than 'spectators', they are more likely to engage with their learning.Peer and self-assessment also give students a sense of all the things you have to consider when setting and marking work, thus helping them to more effectively 'internalise' academic standards and assessment criteria. This enables students to better understand assessment expectations and work towards improving their own performance. Getting students more actively involved in their assessment can make assessment itself a means by which they can learn and develop. To achieve this it's essential that your assessment criteria are clearly and fully described so that your students are able to understand exactly what is expected of them. Taking this a step further and allowing your students to contribute to the assessment criteria can serve to transfer ownership to the students, fostering deeper engagement with the assessment and their learning.

Peer and self-assessment, where students assess each other and themselves, can encourage students to take greater responsibility for their learning, for example, by encouraging engagement with assessment criteria and reflection of their own performance and that of their peers. Through this, students can learn from their previous mistakes, identify their strengths and weaknesses and learn to target their learning accordingly. Getting students to become more active in their learning in this way can help to alter the perception of learning as being a passive process whereby students listen to you and absorb the information in order to regurgitate during a subsequent assignment. If students are participants rather than 'spectators', they are more likely to engage with their learning.

Peer and self-assessment also give students a sense of all the things you have to consider when setting and marking work, thus helping them to more effectively 'internalise' academic standards and assessment criteria. This enables students to better understand assessment expectations and work towards improving their own performance. Getting students more actively involved in their assessment can make assessment itself a means by which they can learn and develop. To achieve this it's essential that your assessment criteria are clearly and fully described so that your students are able to understand exactly what is expected of them. Taking this a step further and allowing your students to contribute to the assessment criteria can serve to transfer ownership to the students, fostering deeper engagement with the assessment and their learning.

# data[].attributes.body
You could use self-assessment in the form of reflective exercises, such as logs or diaries, or by encouraging your students to assess how well they've met the assessment criteria in more traditional tasks such as essays and presentations. Audits or essay feedback questionnaires that students complete on submitting a piece of coursework are particularly helpful as you can compare your perception of their work with your students' views on how well they have performed. You could use self-assessment in a stand-alone context, or in conjunction with peer assessment.
Find out how to get started with self-assessment.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Set up the list of topics
2. Provide some good examples from previous years
3. Design the three proformas: tutor’s, peer feedback, and self assessment
4. Photocopy the three proformas onto different coloured paper: one per student for the tutor’s form and the self assessment form and sets of the peer assessment forms so that each student can comment on a range of posters (I found they can do about 10 in an hour)
5. Make up labels for the posters (AZ) to vaguely anonymise them
6. When students arrive in the room give them a label and some blue tack and ask them to stick their poster and label on the wall. Note down who has been allocated which label 7. If more than about 12 students split into 2 groups, perhaps using 2 rooms if you need the wall space
8. Explain how the workshop will work, i.e. about the peer feedback and self assessment, how long students have and how many posters they should comment on.

Explain what the feedback criteria on the proforma means and most importantly explain what value students should get out of the exercise.

9. Take digital photos of each of the posters – This provides a good record which can be used later for finalising feedback and can be printed off at A3 size as a record of the work each for internal or external moderation

10. Try to assess as many posters as possible during the session using the tutor’s proforma

11. Get students to do the self assessment

12. Next move to the oral presentations – time these ruthlessly!

13. Finally, get students to separate their peer feedback forms and create a stack of feedback forms for each poster, include the self assessment and tutor feedback if all have been completed.

14. Take them away, review peer assessment, write up any substantial feedback required, photocopy any that might be required for moderation and print A3 digital photos for departmental records

15. Load digital photos onto Blackboard so that students can review them later in the course

16. Return complete packs of feedback to the students in the next class.

# data[].attributes.headline
2. Provide some good examples from previous years

# data[].attributes.subject
2. Provide some good examples from previous years

# data[].attributes.headline
3. Design the three proformas: tutor’s, peer feedback, and self assessment

# data[].attributes.subject
3. Design the three proformas: tutor’s, peer feedback, and self assessment

# data[].attributes.headline
4. Photocopy the three proformas onto different coloured paper: one per student for the tutor’s form and the self assessment form and sets of the peer assessment forms so that each student can comment on a range of posters (I found they can do about 10 in an hour)

# data[].attributes.subject
4. Photocopy the three proformas onto different coloured paper: one per student for the tutor’s form and the self assessment form and sets of the peer assessment forms so that each student can comment on a range of posters (I found they can do about 10 in an hour)

# data[].attributes.headline
6. When students arrive in the room give them a label and some blue tack and ask them to stick their poster and label on the wall. Note down who has been allocated which label

# data[].attributes.subject
6. When students arrive in the room give them a label and some blue tack and ask them to stick their poster and label on the wall. Note down who has been allocated which label

# data[].attributes.headline
7. If more than about 12 students split into 2 groups, perhaps using 2 rooms if you need the wall space

# data[].attributes.subject
7. If more than about 12 students split into 2 groups, perhaps using 2 rooms if you need the wall space

# data[].attributes.body
i.e. about the peer feedback and self assessment, how long students have and how many posters they should comment on. Explain what the feedback criteria on the proforma means and most importantly explain what value students should get out of the exercise.

# data[].attributes.headline
10. Try to assess as many posters as possible during the session using the tutor’s proforma

# data[].attributes.subject
10. Try to assess as many posters as possible during the session using the tutor’s proforma

# data[].attributes.headline
11. Get students to do the self assessment

# data[].attributes.subject
11. Get students to do the self assessment

# data[].attributes.headline
12. Next move to the oral presentations – time these ruthlessly!

# data[].attributes.subject
12. Next move to the oral presentations – time these ruthlessly!

# data[].attributes.headline
14. Take them away, review peer assessment, write up any substantial feedback required, photocopy any that might be required for moderation and print A4 digital photos for departmental paper records

# data[].attributes.subject
14. Take them away, review peer assessment, write up any substantial feedback required, photocopy any that might be required for moderation and print A4 digital photos for departmental paper records

# data[].attributes.headline
15. Load digital photos onto Blackboard so that students can review them later in the course

# data[].attributes.subject
15. Load digital photos onto Blackboard so that students can review them later in the course

# data[].attributes.headline
16. Return complete packs of feedback to the students in the next class

# data[].attributes.subject
16. Return complete packs of feedback to the students in the next class

# data[].attributes.body
In a word, Yes and on many levels.

1. Students engage with the subject evidence which was the aim of the exercise. They like the fact that they get to choose a site. Many, predictably, do not use the evidence to construct the narrative, i.e. to discuss what the site tells us about the people who constructed and/or used the site, but it is better that they learn this lesson in an early piece of formative work than in a summative piece later in the module. Taking photographs of the posters and putting them on Blackboard allows me to direct the students who ‘didn’t get it’ to some good examples
2. Recently I have focussed the list of sites on particular chronological periods that the students can find challenging – this gives them an opportunity to investigate one particular site in detail. I can them pick up on this later in the course in the knowledge that each student has detailed knowledge of one of these sites – it therefore provides a launching pad for later sessions. The flip side to this is that when the students have a completely free choice of sites they have a greater investment in the topic and often actually visit the site and put an enormous amount of work into presenting the site.
3. The three minute oral answer to the question of ‘How is the site typical of its period and region’ is a relatively painless way to introduce those new to oral presentation to speaking to a group. Several students have commented positively on this.
4. The requirement to participate in the workshop by giving peer feedback does get them to engage seriously with the other posters and to pay close attention during the ‘oral answers’. The feedback they give is usually pretty consistent on matters to do with presentation, and almost negates the need for me to give feedback on this aspect. However, those that, at the beginning of the workshop, do not realise that they themselves have not adequately address the question of ‘what the site tells us about the people who constructed and/or used the site’ are not well placed to comment on whether other posters do this effectively. It is reassuring though that by the time they do the self assessment towards the middle of the session many more of them have grasped this and often note it on their self assessment. The students are always eager to get their hands on the feedback given by their peers.
5. For the majority the self assessment demonstrates that they have identified the weaknesses in their own poster presentation and have picked up useful tips on how they could improve. They are of course, being mature students, very critical of themselves, so having the peer and tutor feedback helps them to balance the high expectations of themselves against what is expected by others.
6. It fulfils the requirement to provide feedback quickly as it is possible to provide feedback at the end of the poster workshop itself  I have done this exercise in one form or another for around 5 years so I believe it is sustainable

Two issues with this assessment method are:
1. There are limitation in terms of the size of group that this can be done with, although one could always double up the session if you used either a few other members of staff, or scheduled some additional sessions.
2. Students don’t necessarily transfer the lessons learnt in this assessment into more traditional assignments

# data[].attributes.body
• Like anything involving a high level of student interaction it is crucial to work out the timing in advance and stick to it ruthlessly
• I do not explain about what will happen at the workshop in advance of the session, as I don’t want to make a big deal about it and give them cause to think about whether they think it is a good idea or not – this is a risk with mature students. However, whether to flag it up in advance or not probably deserves some thought
• Explain why you are asking the group to give peer feedback and what they will gain from it • Remember to explain the feedback criteria listed on the form
• At the start of the session highlight the importance of giving constructive criticism
• At the end of the session emphasis that the whole bundle of feedback should be considered together, that there will be a degree of variability in the peer feedback and that a useful approach is to look for the common trends. Explain why there might be significant variation between the peer feedback and the tutor feedback on particular criteria – I have learnt what these will be over the years.

# data[].attributes.body
• Perhaps it would be useful to vary the criteria on the student feedback form from that on the tutor’s form as the students are sometimes not well placed to take a view on how well the poster fulfils some of the criteria.