Learning English for Technical Purposes

This chapter presents some research findings in the area of self assessment,obtained from the European Leonardo Project: Learning English forTechnical Purposes (LENTEC), carried out 2001–2003. In this project,upper-secondary vocational students solved problem-based learning casesin a virtual environment. The project aimed at stimulating upper-secondaryvocational school students from six different European countries to improvetheir English-language skills. It also aimed at helping foreign-languageteachers to develop their skills in online tutoring. A validation study wasundertaken and the results underscored that students need time andpractice to assess their own results. According to students and teachers, amajority of the students became more aware of their own language-learning development. The teachers in the project developed a new teacherrole where some of the responsibility for assessment moved from them to thestudents themselves. This not only motivated the students but also gave themadded time for actual language learning.

A Case Study of the Integration of Self, Peer, and Group Assessment in a Core First-Year Educational Psychology Unit through Flexible Delivery Implementation

This chapter provides a case study of one lecturer’s approach to innovativeassessment in a first year unit of university study of 188 students. Manyinsights are provided into the training, preparation, and assessmentexperiences of self, peer, group, and lecturer assessments bound togetherby technology for flexible delivery. The dynamic and complex forms ofassessment support the coproduction of knowledge sharing to harness thesynergy of collective knowledge. Specifically, this chapter presents theauthor’s use of theory used to inform selected assessment strategies.General issues surrounding group assessments, and the impact of graduateattributes and technology on assessment, introduce the case study andreinforce the fact that assessment drives the learning. The author hopesthat by sharing her insights, higher-education practices can better meet theneed for students to learn collaborative and team skills required for thefuture world of work.

E-Assessment

This chapter explores five reasons for a reduced focus on exams byquestioning their value and sustainability in the assessment of studentlearning. It suggests that exam grades cannot provide accruingdevelopmental information about the students’ attributes and qualities vitalfor a changing world and workplace. It then argues for the integratedassessment of generic attributes (including those developed through exams)and describes two e-assessment tools developed by the author to facilitatethis approach. These tools are based on the concept that assessmentcriteria should encompass the complete range of attributes and qualitiesthat institutions proclaim their students will acquire. Given that assessmentdrives learning, explicit alignment between assessment tasks and criteria isessential. It is proposed by this chapter that the development of formativecriteria (numerically valued) together with expert-derived criteria groupscan facilitate students’ development of important qualities, or genericattributes at both school and tertiary levels of education.

Self and Peer Assessment in a Problem-Based Learning Environment

The purpose of this case study is to offer some suggestions on assessingstudent-centered groups, and show how self and peer assessment cancomplement a teacher’s assessment. The case study reports on whichassessment tools have been developed to measure students’ work in twoEuropean Leonardo da Vinci projects. The project used problem-basedlearning to teach English by combining this with a technical subject. A briefreport about the experiences on using an e-learning environment(Blackboard) in which the second project was carried out is also given.Assessment is divided into the process and product strands. The assessmenttools for each strand are proposed. These include rating scales forassessing the presentation and report, as well as self and peer assessmentquestionnaires for assessing the learning process.

How's My Writing? Using Online Peer Feedback to Improve Performance in the Composition Classroom

This chapter presents a case study of how online peer feedback was usedas a formative learning and assessment activity in a required, university-level composition course. The authors argue that such activities, if designedeffectively, contribute significantly toward a student’s sense of audience,authority, and empowerment as a productive member of a larger discoursecommunity. In the study, students were divided into small workgroups andshared their work by posting it on the class discussion board. They wereasked to provide feedback on specific parts of their classmates’ work.Issues such as preparing students to provide peer feedback, quality andusefulness of the peer assessment, and student attitudes toward the peerassessment process are addressed.

Learning and Assessment

This chapter reflects on the lessons learned by the developers of a courseabout self, peer, and group assessment for adult educators, large elementsof which were carried out via online discussion forums. In particular, thischapter will look in detail at the ways in which the learners used onlinediscussion forums and also examine particular exchanges to show how thegroup projects were developed in an online environment. From thesereflections come a number of pointers that may enable facilitators to eithermake changes to the way in which their courses are organised or highlightaspects to their students to enrich and simplify their learning experience.This case study represents the first iteration of an action research cyclewhere future investigations will lead to increasingly effective integration ofe-learning in the form of online discussions and the development of morestraightforward self, peer and group assessment.

A Case Study in Peer Evaluation for Second Language Teachers in Training

This chapter provides a case study of master’s level second-languageteachers in training who used self and peer evaluation within a capstonecourse in their program. Two differing sections are reported; one wasconducted entirely online, and the second was conducted face-to-face witha significant portion of online collaboration required. The author was aparticipant observer conducting this action research. Both courses requiredstudents to evaluate peers using various techniques including online quizinstruments, immediate chat-feedback quizzes, and peer evaluation rubrics.In addition, participants evaluated themselves both on the skills of teachingdemonstrated and on their participation within the community. At least onefourth of each course grade was determined by peer evaluation. E-assessment strategies are detailed, and suggestions for future online peerassessment are given from this case to guide tertiary-level colleagues’future peer evaluation efforts in the best sense of online collaborativediscourse.

Self, Peer, and Group Assessment in E-Learning

This chapter provides an informal introduction to self, peer, and groupassessment, especially as they may be applied within an online, or e-learning, environment. What is self assessment? What is peer assessment?What is group assessment? In what ways are they similar, and whatdistinguishes one from another? The principal characteristics of each aredescribed. An assumption, made explicit from the start, is that assessmentshould not just be about grading, but about assisting the process oflearning itself. References are made throughout to the thoughts andexperiences of many researchers and practitioners currently working inthe field.

A Framework for Assessing Self, Peer, and Group Performance in E-Learning

In this chapter, we propose a framework that supports the analysis andassessment of collaborative learning of online groups of students workingon a complex task (software project, or case study) in a real Web-based,distance-learning context. On the one hand, our approach is based onprincipled evaluation criteria that involve and measure a variety ofelements and factors as well as on a combination of a basic qualitativeprocess and a quantitative method that provide a grounded and holisticframework to analyze and assess group and individual performance moreeffectively and objectively. On the other hand, the approach has been fullyimplemented and tested on an asynchronous collaboration platform. All inall, the aim of our work is to provide a better understanding of groupinteraction and determine how to best support the collaborative learningprocess.

Culture of Critique

In this chapter, we explore a strategy, “online learning circles,” forhelping students develop their own authority and trust in evaluatingresearch and a respect for the authority of their peers. Our goal is toexamine this online collaborative structure and its ability to foster a cultureof constructive critique in graduate-school education. The data we analyzeincludes peer-review messages and survey responses. Student messagedata are coded for type and quality of peer review. The survey data is usedto understand the students’ perspective about their experience in learningcircles and their judgment of the quality of feedback they offered andreceived from their peers. This research addresses two important issues.First, it evaluates a structure, learning circles for group work in graduateonline education; and second, it explores the type and form of peerfeedback from within this collaborative structure. Learning circles didprovide a structure for peer review but there are reservations and issuesinvolved in helping students to develop the trust needed to work togethereffectively. The second issue revolves around authority in the process ofpeer review. Under what conditions are students willing to be critical andto accept criticism from their peers as legitimate? To do this involves aprocess of reacculturation that is difficult to create in courses of limitedduration but may be one argument for the advantages of creating a cohortmodel of education in either on-campus or online programs of study.