Module 2

Developing student self-assessment and peer-assessment skills in the classroom

One of the strategies that I experienced when I was a student was "developing student self-assessment and peer-assessment skills". This strategy puts a lot of the responsibility for learning on the student. This happened when I was in second year in a child and youth studies course. During the course, one of our assignments involved partaking in a debate with another student in the class.  After the debate I had the opportunity to practice self-assessment skills because I had to assess my performance. I explored the rubric, reflected on my debate and applied the success criteria.

In addition, two new students debated every week and when these debates happened, I would have a rubric and would have to mark the students debating. This is where I had the opportunity to practice peer-assessment skills. This relates to developing peer-assessment skills because with the help of my TA, I was able to recognize, describe and apply the success criteria on the rubric to assess my peers' learning. I was given multiple opportunities for peer-assessment and my TA provided me with feedback on the quality of my assessment skills.

This supports my understanding of formative assessment because self-assessment and peer-assessment are constant and ongoing which is what happened each week throughout the semester during the debates. It also allowed me to practice both peer-assessment and self-assessment with the help of my TA by providing me with descriptive feedback and having multiple opportunities for assessment.