Teaching and Learning Resources

Self, Peer, and Group Assessments

Why involve students in assessments?

Having students engage with assessments they have opportunities to develop critical thinking skills, increase metacognitive awareness, and develop life-skills such as self-awareness, effective communication, and empathy.

• Self Assessments
• Peer Assessments
• Group or Team Assessments
• References

Self-Assessments

Self-assessments are a reflective exercise where students assess their own performance on a assignment, creation of a product, or performance. This could include rating themselves on the rubric for an assessment, or a summative assessment on participation in class at the end of a semester.

Self-assessments can help students set goals and engage in self-driven learning.

Practice Examples (Low Stakes Assessment):

1. Discussion Board Posts: Students complete a self-evaluation on how they engaged in the discussion and contributed to the conversation.
2. Essay/Paper: Prior to (formative assessment) or when submitting (summative assessment) an essay/paper students complete a rubric (See Sample Rubric) or the teacher-developed rubric identifying where they met expectations and areas where further development is required.
3. Responding to Peer Assessment: After receiving peer assessment on an essay/discussion board post/presentation, students respond to feedback, sharing their insight. (See Sample Collaborative Model Peer Review Feedback).

See ITP Metrics for additional Self Assessment Information

Peer Assessment or Peer Review

Students as peer assessors or reviewers provide a collaborative model of giving and receiving feedback.
Through the giving of feedback students are critically engaged with the content of the course. When receiving feedback, students are provided an opportunity to review their work in a different way and identify where they can make changes. When engaging in peer assessments, students become active learners and are required to take responsibility for their work.

Peer assessments can be especially useful when students are engaged in group projects (See Group Assessments).

Peer assessments are useful when:

• Information is shared with students why you are including peer assessment in the course.
• The benefits of peer assessment are shared with students.
• Students are trained or provided guidance on how to provide feedback.
• Students know what type of feedback they are providing to each other (i.e., include rubrics to follow).

Practice Examples:

1. Essays/Papers: Peers exchange drafts of papers 2-weeks (or earlier) prior to the due date. Students provide formative feedback on the essay (see Sample Rubric 1 or utilize the rubric developed for the assignment). In having students give each other formative feedback on an essay/paper, they are given an opportunity to enhance their overall project.
1. Students may achieve marks from providing feedback and/or the quality of their feedback to their peer.

2. Group Projects: Students provide feedback to each other based on their engagement in a group project (see Sample Rubric Peer Assessment in Group Project). Students can be assigned marks for completing the peer assessment, the quality of their feedback, and/or a portion of their peer assessment mark can be included in the final mark for the project.
1. This can be done as a formative assessment (mid-way through the semester) to check-in on group dynamics and call attention to any challenges.
2. Can be repeated as a summative assessment to provide an opportunity for students to respond to their peers’ feedback to enhance collaboration.

3. Peer Feedback on Presentations: Students’ feedback on peers’ presentations can be included as part of the final mark (e.g., 5% of the final mark will be based upon peer feedback)
1. Students’ completion of a rubric for a peer’s presentation can be assessed as a low-stakes assessment of participation.

Additional Resource:

• Rise Model

Group or Team Assessments

Team or groupwork learning can be informal (e.g., study groups) or formal (e.g., projects).

Team or groupwork assessments have been identified as authentic opportunities to enhance students’ problem-solving skills and construction of knowledge. Team or groupwork assessments support the development of employability skills, such as creative thinking, perspective taking, and leadership, project management, trust-building, and communication skills. Students engaging in team or groupwork assessments may experience an increase in their feelings of competence and self-esteem which may lead to an increase in well-being.

Challenges in Team or Groupwork

There can be challenges in implementing team or groupwork in due to the type of tasks involved, group dynamics, and student intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Some of these challenges may include:

• Student availability to participate in group assignments (e.g., caregiving responsibilities, work schedules).
• When English is a student’s second language, they may experience feelings exclusion or be excluded from actively participating in tasks.
• Students may “take over” tasks or the distribution of tasks may not be equitable among group members.
• Different approaches to learning may create barriers to completing tasks (e.g., students may work better under tight timelines compared to some, students may prefer to work independently than collectively work on tasks).
• When there is conflict over tasks or approaches to completing tasks, students may be inexperienced in problem-solving or navigating conflict.

Resources to Enhance Students’ Success in Team or Groupwork Assessments

To assist students in mitigating challenges in team and groupwork, it is important to provide the Successful Implementation of Team or Group Work Assessments Checklist ahead of time.

Tuckman’s Theory of Group Development

• Share the stages group development to support students to navigate the process and emotions while engaging in team or group assessments.

Group Contracts

Group contracts can assist students in delegating tasks and holding each other accountable. At the beginning of the groupwork process, have students complete group contracts to enhance accountability and cohesiveness between group members.

• Sample 1 Group Contract
• Sample 2 Group Activity and Group Contract (semester long activity)
• Additional Resource: Making Group Contracts | Centre for Teaching Excellence | University of Waterloo

Self and Group/Team Online Assessments

There are online tools that can be used in the classroom to assist students with understanding how they engage with groups.
ITP Metrics is a free, online tool which offers self-assessments to enhance students’ understanding of their engagement style. These tools are research-informed and can be applied in a number of ways.
Teachers and students can create a free account on ITP metrics to access the following self-assessments. Each assessment includes reflective questions to support personal development.

Examples of Implementing ITP Metrics (online, self- and group assessments):

• Personality Metric: This self-assessment can assist students to understand their personality traits and how they can relate to interactions and experiences in teamwork.
• Example: Prior to having students engage in group work, have them complete the Personality Metric to reflect on their personality traits and how this may impact their engagement in group work.
• Conflict Management Styles: Students complete a self-assessment to gain insight into their personal styles of conflict management.
• Example: Have students complete this activity prior to assigning groups to understand how they will navigate conflict in a group.
• S.E.T. Leadership Report: Students complete a self-assessment about their approach to leadership and how others may view their style of leadership. This report may assist students to identify their strengths and areas for development as a leader.
• Example: Prior to having students form groups, have them complete the self-assessment to identify what type of leadership skills they employ.
• Have students develop groups with individuals who have different leadership styles than them.
• Peer Feedback: Teachers create anonymous peer feed-back teams on ITP metrics. Participants complete reports on the engagement from each of their team members which a teacher can then review. These reports may enhance teachers’ and students’ insight regarding teamwork competences and areas for concern. Additionally, it allows for students’ to identify their strengths as well as areas for improvement.
• Example: Have students complete this metric as a low-stakes formative/summative assessment to assess group dynamics and to mitigate challenges.
• Have teams complete peer feedback at a mid-way point through the group project; ask students to write a brief reflection on the feedback they received and how they will use it.
• Utilize feedback to meet with teams to discuss their overall progress towards completion of the project.
• Team Health and Dynamics: This metric prompts for feedback for the overall health of the team; it can also provide information on how students can engage in actions to improve teamwork.
• Example: Have students complete this as a formative and/or summative assessment.
• As a formative assessment, students can identify any current challenges. Teachers can meet with groups to address challenges at incremental stages to support success.
• As a summative assessment have students complete a critical self-reflection on how they engaged with the group and identify strengths and areas for improvement.

Additional Resource on Implementing Self, Peer, and Group Assessments in Higher Education
ADED PSE (2019, January 28). Engaging Online Students.

References

ADED PSE (2019, January 28). Engaging Online Students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxixQThUekE

Davies, W. M. (2009). Groupwork as a form of assessment: Common problems and recommended solutions. Higher Education, 58, 563-584. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-009-9216-y

Hanrahan, S. J., & Issacs, G. (2001). Assessing self- and peer-assessment: The students’ views. Higher Education Research & Development, 20(1), 53-69. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360123776

ITP Metrics. (n.d.). ITP Metrics: Team assessments backed by research. ITP Metrics

Make Sense Media. (2011). The RISE Model. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f18f806c8fc704bb1677e3a/t/64531c4a8ad6997e96e862aa/1683168330407/RISE-Model-Peer-Feedback.pdf

Nipp, M. B., Naher Palenque, S. (2017). Strategies for successful group work. Journal of Instructional Research, 6, 42-45. ERIC - EJ1152959 - Strategies for Successful Group Work, Journal of Instructional Research, 2017

Portland State University. (2013, June 6). Group Work Contract, Gloria Totten. Group Work Contract, Gloria Totten_0.doc

Queen’s University. (2024). Centre for Teaching and Learning: Peer Review. https://www.queensu.ca/ctl/resources/instructional-strategies/peer-review

Rezaei, A. R. (2019). Effective groupwork strategies: Faculty and students’ perspective. Journal of Education and Learning, 7(5), 1-10. Microsoft Word - p1.docx

Smith, K. A. (1996). Cooperative learning: Making “groupwork” work. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 71-82. Cooperative Learning: Making "Groupwork" Work

Thompson Rivers University. (n.d.). Documentation: Learning Activities/General Peer Evaluation. https://kumu.tru.ca/Documentation:Learning_Activities/General_Peer_Evaluation

Toronto Metropolitan University. (2021). Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching: Best Practices in Peer Assessment. https://docs.google.com/document/d/11SitMPQa6DXW2sT1hSlsZbKmOc82yj3OoBV_UjbHK2Q/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.p2u1kopx1tje

Tuckman, B. (1965). Bruce Tuckman’s Team Development Model. Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.

University of Alberta. (2024). Centre for Teaching and Learning: Using Peer Assessment. https://www.ualberta.ca/en/centre-for-teaching-and-learning/teaching-support/assessment/peer-assessment.html

University of British Columbia. (n.d.). Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology: Student Peer Assessment: Strategies for Success. https://wiki.ubc.ca/images/9/9b/Student-peer-assessment-strategies-success.pdf?utm_source=CTLT+Digest+-+All&utm_campaign=52bf6fc15c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_09_10_06_13_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bbbf22b742-52bf6fc15c-109443887

Volkov, A., & Volkov, M. (2015). Teamwork benefits in tertiary education: Student perceptions that lead to best practice assessment design. Education + Training, 57(3), 262-278. Teamwork benefits in tertiary education: Student perceptions that lead to best practice assessment design | Emerald Insight

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