Peer Review in Assessment

Peer review can have different definitions in the educational arena.  On one hand, peer review can be the process for the publication of academic journal articles. In this process, peers of a scholar – in other words other scholars – review the article to determine its academic value. This particular learning module is about assessment so I believe that this is a different nuance of peer review.  In this situation, the peers that are reviewing each other are students.  In this type of peer review, students assist in assessing each other’s course work. 

In “Design for learning in virtual worlds”, the authors write that assessment should be designed into the learning modules.  Assessment should not be an “afterthought” (Nelson & Erlandson p. 96).  They also write, “Assessments are decisions about interpretations of evidence.” (Nelson & Erlandson, p. 96)  Peer review is a method of assessment that is effective for many reasons.  This can help in expediting the assessment process, gives different perspectives in assessment and the students are reinforcing learning goals in the process off assessing their peers. Students should be given grading rubrics, so they know what they are looking for.  This will help the student in their learning – again by reinforcing the learning goals.  This should support the learning in reiterating the objectives in their own personal learning projects, and in grading others learning projects.

In the article, “A systematic review of tools that support peer assessment”, by Andrew Luxton-Reilly, he reiterates my point that peer assessment is a powerful tool for educational purposes.  He states that in the past, pen and paper were used for peer review – in a traditional classroom setting.  Nowadays we have online technological tools that support digital peer assessment.  This can be especially useful in a large class.  Some of these MOOC’s have hundreds of students.  It would be impossible and exhaustive to have a single instructor assess all of the learners.  This article reviews and analyzes digital tools for peer assessment. 

This article and the reading in the “Design for learning in virtual worlds” text show the usefulness and effectiveness of peer review in the assessment process.

References:

Luxton-Reilly, A. (2009). A systematic review of tools that support peer assessment. Computer Science Education, 19(4), 209-232.

Nelson, B., & Erlandson, B. (2012). Design for learning in virtual worlds. New York, NY: Routledge.