MAILING LISTS

There was a great thread about Peer evaluation in January, which was
informative, but truthfully, I did not appreciate the discussion at the
time.  

 

We have just completed our first peer evaluation process and I have some
questions.  We believe in the peer evaluation process and will not
abandon it, but there have been some issues.

 

In the TBL book there are two forms of peer evaluation described
(percentage and maintenance).  Several pros and cons are listed, but
mostly ending with a suggestion of a positive learning note.  Of the two
methods described, selfishly I chose the percentage one because it made
more sense to me and was easier to calculate.  The students however, are
incensed (well maybe too strong of a word, but upset) that it is a
zero-sum game.  They don't mind giving points to those who contribute,
but they do not want to take points away from those who contribute less.


*         How do you rationalize the zero-sum concept?  

*         How does one explain the value of moderating the scores?
Maybe it is a cultural thing - being nice, but the idea of taking away
something they believe they have earned is painful. How do you tell them
that they have not really earned the group scores unless they
participate in the group?

*         When the group size results in a proportion that is not easily
divisible by 5 - and they want to give the team equal marks - but can't.
For example a team of 7, with 6 ratings can only give 16.7 and 16.6 -
someone will be a bit higher and a bit lower.

 

Using the maintenance method might solve the logical problem by making
the peer assessment an added component to the grade - not subtractive
(on the surface).   If I were to switch to that method, 

*         How do you decide what % of the final grade should the peer
assessment be?

*         Is it really any difference - or does it just appear that way
to the students because they see it as adding not subtracting?

*         How do faculty feel about inflating grades by making portion
of success be solely on peer points? 

*         Will I exchange a student fight for a faculty one?

 

This is quite a contentious topic, and I can see why people give up on
it - or move away to more feedback rather than grade moderation - but we
really feel that it is important to keep - so any advice on how to deal
with student's anxiety is most welcomed.

 

Sandy 

 

 

 

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Sandy COOK, PhD | Associate Dean, Curriculum Development | Duke-NUS
Graduate Medical School Singapore | W: (65) 6516 8722| F: (65) 6227 2698
|