In this section of the hub, you will find a short guide developed specifically for Maynooth University staff on the topic of ‘Self and peer assessment’. This guide offers some definitions of self and peer assessment, briefly considers research-informed thinking about self and peer assessment, outlines why self and peer assessment might be beneficial and provides practical advice around what to consider if one is implementing self and/or peer assessment. The guide includes some suggestions around what readers might want to do next, under this topic, and a list of references to resources and research.
The Maynooth University guide is followed by a curated list of resources, some of which have been developed specifically for Maynooth University, and others which we have sourced directly, or adapted, from other HEIs. Each resource has a short description and includes a note of the home institution from which the resource was sourced, where applicable.
Maynooth University Centre for Teaching and Learning
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Self and Peer Assessment
Short Maynooth University research-informed guide on self and peer assessment. Source: Maynooth University (Ireland).
Self and Peer Assessment - Student Guide
Short Maynooth University research-informed guide for students on self and peer assessment. Source: Maynooth University (Ireland).
Short Maynooth University animation which provides an overview of self and peer assessment including noting the challenges with this approach, and some tips for getting started with self and peer assessment. Source: Maynooth University (Ireland).
‘7 Steps to: Peer and Self Assessment’. Short guide which explores supporting students in peer and self assessment, managing confidentiality, considering reliability, distributing work for peer assessment, the importance of feedback, using self and peer assessment formatively or summatively, occasionally or curriculum-wide. Source: Plymouth University (UK).
‘Peer and Self Assessment in student work: principles and criteria’. Short chapter which includes definitions and short descriptions of self and peer assessment, principles for the use of self and peer assessment, and some sample criteria. Source: University of Exeter (UK).
‘Peer and Self Assessment’. Longer guide (18 pages) divided into various sections including overview of peer and self assessment, teaching peer and self assessment, assessing self and peer assessment, and diversity and equity considerations. The guide also includes links to a number of other resources. Source: Deakin Learning Futures, Deakin University (Australia).
‘Self and Peer Assessment’. Short guide on self and peer assessment outlining the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. Source: University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong).
‘CRADLE Suggests … strategies to implement self and peer assessment’. One page guide of research informed advice about implementing self and peer assessment. Source: Deakin University (Australia).
Self Assessment
‘Self-Assessment’. Short guide which outlines why you might use self assessment, some considerations for its use, advice on how to get started with self assessment and notes and examples of exam and homework ‘wrappers’. Source: Cornell University (USA).
‘Turning Active Learning into Active Feedback’. Short guide presenting new thinking about students’ inner feedback, that is ‘the knowledge that students generate when they compare their current knowledge against some external reference information, guided by their goals’ (Nicol, 2021). Source: University of Glasgow (Scotland).
‘Self Assessment’. Short guide outlining the benefits of self assessment, the variety of contexts in which self assessment can be used and prompt questions for the design of a self assessment sheet. Source: University of Greenwich (UK).
‘Getting students to self assess to deepen their learning and develop feedback dialogues’. Short guide outlining why self assessment is important and how you might get started with using self assessment to deepen learning and engage in feedback dialogue. Source: Heriot Watt University (Scotland).
Peer Assessment
Teaching Toolkit – Peer Assessment. Short guide noting the benefits of peer assessment and how to build peer assessment into your teaching. Source: University College London (UK).
‘Student peer assessment’. Short guide which provides a brief overview of peer assessment, including the benefits and challenges. Source: University of British Columbia (Canada).
‘Student peer assessment: essentials for effective implementation’. Short guide noting points to consider in the assignment design of student peer assessment, the implementation of student peer assessment and the evaluation of student peer assessment. Source: University of British Columbia (Canada).
‘Peer Assessment’. Short guide noting what peer assessment is, why you might use it, considerations for using it and advice on getting started. Source: Cornell University (USA).
‘Guide to Peer-Assessment’. Pamphlet which the author notes ‘aims to introduce formative peer assessment to academics who are considering implementing peer review in their teaching. [The pamphlet] provides a ‘theory into practice’ approach and outlines techniques and examples for using formalised peer assessment more directly in the design of curricula and in making its use more explicit in the classroom in order to help students learn more effectively’ (Wride, 2017). Source: Trinity College Dublin (Ireland).
‘How to Give Constructive and Actionable Feedback to Students: Students to students’. Short animation based on surveying students’ views of feedback. The animation outlines students’ reported reactions to feedback, important characteristics in peer feedback and advice on giving peer feedback. Source: UCD Teaching and Learning (Ireland).
‘Using Student Peer Review’. Webpages which cover the topics of planning for peer review sessions, helping students to offer effective feedback, and providing guidance on using feedback. Source: Colorado State University (USA).
‘Developing student assessment literacy through peer assessment’. Case study of using peer review with a large group (660 students) in the discipline of Accounting and Finance. Source: University of Manchester (UK).
‘Group and peer assessment’. Webpages including description of group and peer assessment, the benefits of group and peer assessment, designing and managing group and peer assessment. Source: Monash University (Australia).
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Accessibility
‘Peer and Self Assessment’. Longer guide (18 pages), mentioned previously in this topic space, includes a dedicated section on diversity and equity considerations (pp. 14-15). Source: Deakin Learning Futures, Deakin University (Australia).