Enhancing International Postgraduates’ Learning Experience with Online Peer Assessment and Feedback Innovation
Source: Innovations in Education and Teaching International, Vol. 53, No. 3, 247–259, 2016
(Reviewed by the Portal Team)
This article describes a Higher Education Academy Economics Network-funded research examined academic and international students' experience of innovative online peer assessment and feedback.
Methods
The authors investigated the learning experience of international student cohorts by using online submission and peer-marking tools, Turnitin2 (PeerMark).
The authors used the Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theoretical framework to analyse students’ experience.
The authors used qualitative action inquiry method and conducted semi-structured video interviews with 2 lecturers and 11 international students from Cameroon, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Spain, China and The United Republic of Tanzania.
Findings
The findings reveal that the innovative tools, like PeerMark, facilitate a simple but powerful educational principle for international students. Most participants indicate an affirmative response that, comparing the common assessment methods such as examinations, peer assessment using PeerMark enhances the understanding of subject knowledge through the practice of critical thinking and understanding of assessment criteria during the peer assessment process.
However, independent justification with confidence for providing peer assessment or making sense of received feedback is necessary.
Furthermore, the authors found that the heterogeneity in assessors’ ability levels may not affect the confidence of international students in online peer assessment. The authors argue that this finding may suggest that learning in a social constructive approach and working in group is substantial.
Finally, this study prompts educational practitioners to think beyond traditional assessment methods and to provide a relevant and meaningful computer-supported collaborative educational setting to enhance international students’ peer assessment for learning experience.