Peer evaluation is an integral part of Team-Based Learning that leads to an environment wherein students not only help each other improve but also deeply reflect on their own work. But, what are the specific advantages that peer evaluation brings to the table in a Team-Based Learning context? We outline the 5 most important benefits in this post.
Key Benefits
Judgment by peers is a good motivator
Group cohesion
Students improve by assessing each other’s work
Opportunity to grow
Better informed grade
1. Judgment by peers is a good motivator
Peer evaluation makes students accountable not only to the instructors but to their peers as well. Research suggests that being judged by peers is a better motivator to produce high-quality work.
2. Group cohesion
On a similar topic, peer-to-peer accountability not only serves as a motivator but assures all team members that social loafing is unlikely because each of them will be assessed by their peers. This improves team dynamics (Cestone, Levine & Lane, 2008).
3. Students improve by assessing each other’s work
When students are responsible for assessing their peers’ work, they are more thoughtful about the objectives of the activity at hand. y going through the process of assessing others’ work, students also learn how to evaluate their own work better.
4. Opportunity to grow
A good practice of peer evaluation is to have at least one formative peer evaluation during the course. This gives students enough time to identify knowledge gaps, correct negative behaviors and keep improving on positive ones. Learn more about best practices with our blog post on the 4 Best Practices For A Successful Peer Evaluation.
5. Better informed grades
Instructors cannot know everything that goes on inside teams, which is why grading purely based on RATs and/or application cases can be biased, often rewarding students for work they may not have equally contributed to. Factoring in peer evaluation into your grading can create grades that are better informed and are rewarding to students who actually did the work!
References
1. Cestone, C.M., Levine, R.E. and Lane, D.R., 2008. Peer assessment and evaluation in team‐based learning. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2008(116), pp.69-78.
2. Goedde, Rick & Sibley, Jim. Approaches to Peer Evaluation: Pro’s and Con’s of Various Methods. PDF. Retrieved from http://learntbl.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Poster_TBL_peer_Feb2011-22nd.pdf.