Peer assessment is a process through which students and instructors share in the evaluation of student work. It can have many different forms. Researchers find that peer assessment deepens students’ understanding of their own learning and empowers students to become more actively engaged and self-directed in their learning processes (Falchikov, 2005; Sivan, 2000).

Identify learning activities for which peer feedback would be helpful to students. Consider the degree to which you want students to be involved. The advantage of having students actively involved in developing scoring guidelines is increased accuracy when students implement the guidelines during peer assessment. The disadvantage is that students are not yet experts in the content area.

In the lowest level of student involvement:

An instructor prepares model answers and guidelines for feedback, which students use to assess the work of peers.
Peer assessment grades are recommendations only, and the instructor makes final grading decisions.
Students are required to participate and any student unhappy with a peer assessment grade could seek an independent assessment by the instructor.

In the highest level of student involvement:

Students and instructors work together to prepare model answers and scoring guidelines.
Students then use the negotiated guidelines to assess the work of peers.
Students are then responsible for providing feedback to the other students.

Peer Assessment | Learning Sciences. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://learningsciences.utexas.edu/teaching/assess-learning/feedback/peer-assessment

In my class, I use the 2+2 model for peer assessment. The students must give 2 positive comments and 2 comments for improvement. I also give them a rubric or the elements that they should look for when evaluating.

Student Assessments by Vicki Richardson