ISSUES FROM THE
LITERATURE
Review
issues from the James, McInnis and Devlin (2002) indicate three good reasons for conducting and assessing group work:
- Peer learning can improve the overall quality of student learning
- Group work can help develop specific generic skills sought by employers
- Group work may reduce the workload involved in assessing, grading and providing feedback to students
One of the ten most 'suckful' things about the institution, querying whether it reflects the real world…lecturers are increasingly required to implements group assessment, the value of which is being called into question …students are required to work under inflexible deadlines … 8- 10 weeks insufficient…few lecturers any formal training in group assessment. (Strauss, P. & U, A., 2007)
A peer assessment strategy is required which ideally is formative, diagnostic and summative….skills every professional should possess and be able to use for different purposes (Raban & Litchfield, 2007)
The ability to assess the work of others is a core attribute for most professionals. To develop this graduate attribute in our students requires the learning of self and peer evaluation, feedback, and review skills. This paper discusses the changing design of peer assessment and the impact of a new groupwork support tool within a capstone undergraduate subject with large student numbers. (Raban & Litchfield, 2007)
Students working in a group have the opportunity to see how other students approach and solve a problem – they learn that there can be more than one ‘correct’ way to approach a problem and have the opportunity to develop ways of evaluating competing solutions….Assessment of group tasks has the potential to benefit students and staff, but only if it is carefully planned. (Isaacs, 2001).