In my first TBL class teammates penalized a classmate more than I anticipated for not contributing to the team effort. I reflected that I needed to decide what I was comfortable with for the amount of effect that peer evaluation could cause. After that I decided to give students a range of points to choose from to assign peer scores. I liked the results better after making this change the next semester. Peer evaluation stayed important but not higher risk than I intended. These are the instructions I used: Evaluate the contributions of each person in your group except yourself, by distributing 100 points among them. Use between 15 and 35 points per person as long as all four scores add to 100. Include comments for each person. Qualities that help team performance include * preparation for class * productive contributions to team discussion and work * respect for teammates and encouragement for them to contribute their ideas * flexibility when disagreements occur so that they are constructive, not destructive, to the team (I expect you to discover disagreements as you work together; they are part of starting from different perspectives and can be fruitful for learning). Kathy Ross Kathy Ross, Ph.D. Instructional Technologist Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Indiana University Kokomo 2300 South Washington PO Box 9003 Kokomo, IN 46904-9003 765-455-9392 [log in to unmask] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:30:50 -0500 From: "Fried, Vance" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Peer Evaluations Sandy, I get a few complaints, but do it any way. I've never seen a group of five or more (whether in TBL or real world) where everybody contributed equally. Sometimes they all may put in the same amount of work, but even in the most balanced of groups somebody is always a little better). I do set it up where it is clear that you get a reasonable peer grade (7 or above) if you come regularly to class and are prepared, even if other group members are much better. I also make it clear that a 9 isn't going to lower anybody's score by a letter grade. Disclaimer: I've never taught in an Asian culture. Vance Fried Management Oklahoma State University