Peer Assessment can be a great experience to get multiple perspectives and feedback from those going through a similar experiences and to learn by providing it back to them. However, there can be some anxieties in both giving and receiving peer assessment. I sometimes have difficulty knowing how to balance positives and negatives. My goal is to really know what I am doing well and what needs improvement. I not only want to get a good grade, but I want to learn more through the process of reflection and improvement. Since these are my goals, I also assume those are the goals of my peers. However, this overlooks the difference between mine and my peers expectations due to the multiple socio-cultural and individual variations.
Questions linger in the back of my head: am giving too many or not enough positive "good jobs". Is because I like them or because I don't want to hurt their feelings? Is this because Is it because I want to continue to build a community with them inside and outside of the course? Am I being too harsh? Are my expectations too high? Am I acting like I am a teacher or looking at it like a competition? Should I use a different tone or will I come off offensive?
I also wonder if I am giving too much positive feedback. Am I being too lenient? If so, will I be missing an opportunity to help someone grow and get a good grade? If I were them, would I want to heart bluntly, subtly dropped, or ignored?
Another fear in peer assessment is receiving the assessment. Are they telling me the truth or not wanting to hurt my feeling? What if I am embarrassed? What if my work puts them off from wanting to building a relationship or group work because they now see my my work as not being up to par?
Luckily, I have never felt like I have received offensive or overly hard peer assessment that wasn't in tune with the true quality of my work. I have trusted that they always come with good intent and grew from the experience. However, I have had experiences where I had to carefully reflect on if I was being too positive or negative, and still ended up with having a bit of anxiety when I hit "send" on the button. Will I help them or will they still like me? In the end, I came out with learning from it and found it very valuable.
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Johanna, such conscientious examination of your own intentions during an assessment is what each of needs to go through. I rubric helps keep the objectivity minimum - a checklist. You always need to do your best and keep bias to a minimum.
ReplyDeleteIn this 6707 process, I never look at team members before I review the paper. I also do not look at the peer assessments until my review is done. Sometimes my opinions are very different than those of students, but the averaging of all points and then the 'second chance' seems to neutralize differences of opinions. ~ Datta Kaur