Engaging students via peer evaluation of group work

While working across several units in the Master of Education, I have strived to ensure that the content and delivery methods are current, relevant, and effective. A great example of this is the amendments made to EDF5663 Education and globalisation in the Asian century.

Professionals across the education sector can use this unit to understand the intricacies of the evolving international landscape of education in the twenty-first 'Asian century'. After taking up the role of chief examiner, I modified the teaching content, focused on education systems in Asian countries, and updated the reading materials.

As a result, the SETU* increased from 4.25 to 4.79. In addition, student enrolments for the unit increased from 31 to 74 students within three years. There was, however, a lack of engagement and participation among many students in this unit (whether face-to-face or online). In particular, those studying remotely in China did not complete the required readings before classes and seemed disengaged in class.

*Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) is a way we get to hear from students about their experience of learning within a unit. The responses provide the University with a broad indicator of students' satisfaction with teaching and the student learning journey.

To make this flexible unit more robust, I added an ongoing peer assessment task (10%). Students were required to participate actively in the face-to-face sessions and/or online discussions. Through this task, students contribute meaningfully to weekly group activities, discussions, and posts. Each student's contribution to the group is evaluated using a peer evaluation rubric.

	Establish a group work assessment task. In order to receive the full 10% for this assessment, the whole group needs to respond to weekly activities for the 10 allocated weeks.
	Require students to participate actively in the face-to-face sessions and/or online discussions. For students to participate effectively in group work, they must be engaged in sessions and discussions. This can be done by requiring them to participate in both the face-to-face sessions and the online discussions. This will help to keep them engaged and allow them to share their ideas with the rest of the group.
	Evaluate contributions using a peer evaluation rubric. Team members are rated on a 1-to-5 scale based on their contributions. Among the criteria are cooperation, dependability, participation, quality input, interest and enthusiasm, and overall contribution.
	Award points based on work distribution within the group. Points are also awarded based on the work distribution within the group. Students are allocated to a group and asked to decide who will be the group leader and who will scribe each week.
	Encourage students to review the online materials and do the readings before class. To help them participate effectively in group work, they are strongly encouraged to review the online materials and do the readings before class. Each group decides how to organise itself. For example, different members can be designated or volunteer to do different readings or activities, or people can work in pairs and report back. Since group work is assessed in the unit, and group members evaluate each contribution, it should be shared as equitably as possible.
	Rotate group roles every week to keep the group engaged. Rotating these roles every week keeps the group engaged. Together, they work as a group to put forward a weekly response to activities. This will allow everyone to have a chance to lead the group, and it will also give them a chance to participate in different activities. It will also help to keep the group on track, as everyone will be responsible for completing different tasks.
	Put forward a weekly response to activities as a group. For students to accomplish the tasks set for them, feedback is essential. One way to do this is by having a weekly response to activities. This will help keep everyone on track and allow for everyone to share their ideas with the rest of the group.
	Monitor peer evaluations formally to put them in context. Peer evaluations are formally monitored by tutors online in order to put them in context. This is why it is important for students to explain how they have organised themselves to their tutor.

This assessment task brought about great improvement in both class participation and online engagement. Online participation rate increased 75%, from 353 logs per student in year one, to 616 logs per student in year two. The teaching evaluation scores followed with 4.79 to 4.86.

I also asked the students to provide a 2 minute video response to their experience of this task in Week 10 which focussed on the opportunities, effectiveness, learning and challenges of working collaboratively. This video could be of the group members talking about their experiences or a thought-provoking video with images, music and text.

SETU feedback about the best parts of the unit provided the following comments:

1. Prepare assessment description and marking rubric
2. Prepare your unit amendment form
3. Get endorsement from the course leader(s) and program directors (s) by signing the amendment form. This unit covers students from Master of Education, Master of Teaching (Early Childhood) and Master of Teaching (Primary). I need to get 3 course leaders and 2 program directors to sign.
4. Submitted the Faculty curriculum service team and get approval from Faculty Education Committee
5. Update the moodle site for the additional assessment task
6. Create some group tasks from week 2 to week 11 (10 tasks)
7. Arranged a group task: 'Thinking Community' - video response to get students’ feedback

• A 10% mark on this assessment task is not a lot, but your students will not be willing to lose it! It motivates them to work hard - but also to work well together.
• Make sure that the participation rubric is made clear to every student so they fully understand the expectations of the task. This reduces the possibility of ‘passengers’  - students along for the ride, but not doing any driving!
• The Week 10 video group task can provide you with useful reflective student feedback which you can use to make any adjustments needed for next time.
• The phrase “Teach more, learn less” is not a call for us as educators to do less, but rather for us to teach more effectively, engage students, and prepare them for life. This goes to the heart of educational quality.