Computer support of effective peer assessment in an undergraduate programming class.

Active learning is considered by many academics as an important and effective learning strategy. Assessment is integrated in learning as a tool for learning, but traditional assessment methods often encourage surface learning (passive learning) rather than deep learning (active learning). Peer asses...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of Computer Assisted Learning Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. 217 - 232
Autores principales: Sitthiworachart J, Joy M
Formato: equations & formulas pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Jun2008
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Active learning is considered by many academics as an important and effective learning strategy. Assessment is integrated in learning as a tool for learning, but traditional assessment methods often encourage surface learning (passive learning) rather than deep learning (active learning). Peer assessment is a method of motivating students, involving students discussing, marking and providing feedback on other students' work, and is one of the successful approaches which can be used to enhance deep learning. Students are required to think critically about what they are learning during the peer assessment process. Tutors' marking is usually accepted as reliable, but student peers' marking in a peer assessment process is suspect. As part of a study investigating whether peer assessment can be an accurate assessment method in a computer programming course, a novel web-based peer assessment tool has been developed. In this paper, we describe the tool and report the results of evaluating the tool through experiments involving large programming classes. The results suggest that computer-mediated peer assessment is a valuable assessment approach which promotes active learning and is an accurate assessment method in a programming course.