The current version of SparkPlus has been used in classes with as many as 1500 students.  It is used by staff at many Australia Universities and a few in the  US , Canada and Europe.   SparkPlus facilitates self and peer assessment of team contribution.  It can also be used for assessing individual work and allows students to benchmark their judgement against academics and each other.  More info on these different modes can be found http://spark.uts.edu.au/ .  Several research papers discuss the outcomes of its traditional use for peer evaluation and others – see for example Willey, K. & Gardner, A. 2010) 'Investigating the capacity of self and peer assessment activities to engage students and promote learning', European Journal of Engineering Education, 35: 4, 429 — 443.

I need to declare that I was the original designer of SPARK (Self and Peer Assessment Resource Kit) in 1995 when my class sizes first shot over the 1000 mark and I needed a solution to what I perceived as a free-rider problem.  Subsequently I became aware of the benefits of focussing on the development of team collaboration skills and so see SparkPlus as a tool to facilitate the development of this skill by providing information student groups could use for formative purposes.   Keith Willey now champions the development of SparkPlus.  The program is under ongoing development with several new modes of operation currently being trailed.  It facilitates many different forms of feedback to students.  There is a small fee for hosting but this money goes back into development.

Cheers, Mark

MARK FREEMAN

Australian Business Deans Council  | Scholar

The University of Sydney Business School  | Director Accreditation

p +61 2 9036 5030 | f 61 2 9351 6620 | e [log in to unmask] | r 287 Economics and Business Building (link to map) NSW 2006 | CRICOS Provider No. 00026A

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From: Team-Based Learning [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Bridges, Kristie [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 7:27 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: electronic peer evaluation

Has anyone used iPeer, SparkPlus or other program for peer evaluation with a large number of students/groups ?  If so, what were the pros and cons?  Any recommendations for web-based peer evaluation tools would be greatly appreciated.  Many thanks!

Kristie

Kristie Grove Bridges, PhD

Associate Professor, Biochemistry

WVSOM

400 N Lee St

Lewisburg, WV 24901

304-647-6223

UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F
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