Yes, I too have used peer evaluation they do have a tendency to be right on target with your own observations of performance. However, I think it was great to learn to reinforce group diversity instead of letting students create their own groups.
I also liked learning not to change members, even when students request it.
Yes, I feel the guilt as well! In one of my most important undergraduate classes I was put into a group and one person completely took over and I just went with the flow to complete the task.
By Eddy Mojena
Monitoring the groups also allows to individually monitoring each student within the group as well. This allows to see were they should be to what help they may need to stay on
I think this can be difficult at times. What I normally do is have the students evaluate each other in the group. When they evaluate the students it is through e-mail to me so other students do not read the feedback. If all members of the group give the student the same/similiar scores, a few points is deducted.
James,
I agree that this is a great strategy to help evaluate the individuals in the groups.
Dr. Ryan Meers
By allowing the students to evaluate each other and by evaluating the participation of each student in the group.
Rochelle ,
I like this well-balanced approach & I'm sure it benefits the students.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I use a combination of monitoring, individual, and group feedback. I try to maintain my own perception of student involvement in a group project just as I do during routine class or individual interactions. These assessments may have had some bearing on how the groups were paired to begin with. However, I really want to have the group dynamic as part of the evaluation because it will help me assess how the other group members perceived the individual's effort. I think self-evaluations are also important as a tool to encourage the individual to strive for "best effort" performance.
For me, the group assessment/perspective combined with my instructor assessment will hopefully allow for a balanced and fair evaluation. The group evaluations are also interesting to compare with the individual self-assessments.
Lawrence,
I think this is great as it demonstrates the need to use a variety of assessment methods for both group & individual work.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I use several methods of evealuating individuals to the group. The first is my movements throughout the class and engaging with the groups on what they are currently discussing. By asking appropriate questions of the group I can help clarify a point or engage the group to go beyond their current answers.
I also reserve the right to choose which member of a group will give the presentation for the group to the question(s) asked. Individual point clarifications can then be asked of anyone in the group.
Lastly, I sometimes ask for reports on different aspects of the group work. I ask each group to divide this report work among themselves so that each member has something to report. The content of such reports helps to glean the knowledge gained by individual memebers.
I like the lab sheet idea, it allows the instructor to judge the pace of the activity. I never did a peer review but that sound intreging. The only problem I see is personal;ity conflicts. (hopefully adults don't act in that manner).
I love the peer review idea. I'm anxious to incorporate this into my classes...
Well, yes. This is also a time when they ask me questions about things they dont understand in the experiment.
Most of the group projects that we use have a scoring rubric that is handed out prior to the activity and reviewed so the students know exactly how they will be scored. We also vary the scoring between instructor and peer or use both.
I have had success with using lab sheets. The gorup does the work but the inidivdual must complete the lab sheet. The most correct and compled lab sheet would recieve a higher grade than less complete lab sheets
Sit in and ask questions of each group member.
Have various members do parts of the presentation/findings.
Leon Guendoo
I let each group know from the start that the group as a whole will hand me an evaluation form for each member. They can discuss these forms, but all must reach an agreement as to the final assessment. I also make sure that each member is responsible for at least one of the items from the group's outline for the final product. Here there is definite individual assessment to be coupled with the group assessment.
I absolutely think peer grading is essential to evaluation of individual effort in a group. Most students are very honest. I remember once, as a graduate student, being assigned to a group task with three other students. Three of us worked; one did nothing. The instructor's evaluations were based on what he described as consistent commentary by at least two members of the group. That seemed pretty fair to me.
Khalid,
and I'm guessing keeps them on their toes as they are waiting for the questions.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I walk around and 'visit' each group in the Lab repeatedly. To ensure participation by all students I discuss different aspects of the work and data they have taken with individual group members. This keeps them all engaged in the work.
