I have used these twice with similar effects, especially with nursing students who feel they must support each other. If I do not use them, the response when I discuss the groups in my introduction is the typical groan that not all do the same load. So, I explain the evaluation to them as a tool to avoid such behavior. The students feel satisfied with this and the groups, on majority, have worked well. In reality, my points for the group evaluation, as part of the total, will not impact most student's grade in a great way. Sharon Sweeney Fee, RN, PhD Assistant Professor MSU-Bozeman College of Nursing 214 Sherrick Hall 406-994-2705 ________________________________ From: Team Learning Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Smith, David W Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 10:24 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Peer Evaluation Implementation Question I rarely use peer evaluations any more, so take what I offer with a grain of salt. My scoring essentially did what Jim Sibley suggests. I put limits on the number of peers who could be rated in the top category. After all, if everyone is contributing reasonably well, there isn't much room for several people to be outstanding. In a good group you expect similar contributions and similar ratings over the long haul. Some of my groups figured out they could rotate the top category among all the members over the semester. A group that can figure out how to work in harmony on their peer evaluations and stick to their agreement all semester has done something well. If their reports or assignments are working out well, then they are achieving the substantive goals of the group. Try giving some explicit guidelines for ratings, eg, "did not participate in the discussion." If you do, then everyone in the group will actually speak up, or their group will ask them to. Otherwise, they can't legitimately hold to their agreement to fix the ratings. This will legitimately give everyone in the group a similar rating. Watch carefully for someone who is doing noticeably worse than their group on exams and other evaluations. They might be letting the rest of the group do all the work. You can suggest privately that they are passing up an opportunity to learn by not contributing in a meaningful way. Correspondingly, someone who has much better individual RAT scores than the group score is either not contributing or is not being listened to by the group and the group may need to be told. Finally, there shouldn't be much point in worrying about it a great deal. Let them have the points and move on. Use this information as a diagnostic, of group effectiveness. If a group can conspire to game your system, then they are working well on something. Regards, David Smith David W. Smith, Ph.D., M.P.H., C.Stat. Associate Professor, Biostatistics Fellow, Institute for Health Policy The University of Texas School of Public Health San Antonio Branch Campus voice: (210) 562-5512 e-mail: [log in to unmask]