Value of group work

Working well within a group is a valuable skill to develop, especially when building a CV for employment. Research (Boud et al. 2001; Falchikov, 2005; Havnes and McDowell, 2007) shows that collaborative work promotes both academic achievement and collaborative abilities as when working interactively with others, students learn to inquire, share ideas, clarify differences, problem-solve, and construct new understandings. Students working together are usually more motivated to achieve than they would be when working individually. Thus, groupwork often serves as an effective vehicle for learning, in terms of both academic knowledge and interpersonal skills, and therefore group work is a common classroom activity.

Group assessment

As group working skills are highly valued by employers, group assessments may be included in one or more modules within the course so that effective group-working skills are evidenced by the summative assessment grades. It should be clear which modules contain a group assessment as group work skills should be identifiable within one or more of the learning outcomes for that module. Where groupwork is formally assessed such that the outcome of such work contributes to a module mark, this is called a group assessment. Group assessment will not normally comprise more than 50% of the module mark, and must be conducted in a manner which allows for every student to be allocated a unique mark in respect of their contribution to the outcome of that assessment. This means for each group assessment there is usually a base mark and an adjustable mark. The base mark is a non-adjustable assessment mark given by the module assessor for the submission as a whole. The adjustable mark is the portion of the total mark that is awarded in addition to the base mark, which can be changed based on each student’s contributions to the assessment, as judged either by the module assessor or by peer assessment. Where assessors are not able to observe the group work in sufficient detail to allocate individual marks themselves, this discrimination must be achieved using peer assessment. The adjustable mark will contribute a maximum of 20% towards that assessment component.

Example calculation:

For a groupwork assessment submission where the peer assessed mark forms 20% of the total mark, the calculation below demonstrates how the peer-assessed adjustable portion contributes to a final assessment mark for two students. In this assessment the overall mark given 60% (base mark), with a calculated contribution grade based on the peer assessment scores of 70% for Student A and 50% for Student B. The final assessment mark for student A is 62% [(0.8 x 60) + (0.2 x 70)], and student B is 58% [(0.8 x 60) + (0.2 x 50)].

Peer assessment

Peer assessment is used in the context of group work where an assessor is not able to observe the group work in sufficient detail to allocate individual marks for each student’s contribution to the group assessment. During peer assessment students are assigned the adjustable mark for their individual contributions to a group task, using scoring of team working behaviours. Students assess each other’s individual contributions to the submission and their peer assessment mark is calculated using a standard formula, meaning it is applied consistently to all students. Undertaking peer assessment of collaborative working behaviours helps students to develop critical thinking skills and make evaluative judgements about their peers. Employers highly value evidence that students can effectively evaluate their own and others’ team/collaborative working behaviours, enabling them to provide high quality feedback to others about their work.

Completing a peer assessment

As part of the assessment information students will be provided with clear guidance on how the adjustable part of the mark will be awarded, including clear instructions for how to assess their peers, the full assessment criteria and a Moodle link for where to submit this. Students will be expected to be able to provide clear justification for the scores they allocate to their peers for this assessment. A student’s overall mark is not allowed to fall below the pass mark as a result of the peer assessment adjustment calculations made. Students who fail to submit their peer assessment ‘scores’ by the deadline will have their marks deducted by 20% as a consequence. If a student does not engage at all within a group such that they contribute nothing towards a group assessment, this can be dealt with separately by the module assessor, as this can lead to mark of zero for this group assessment.

If any student is unable to take part in group work as a consequence of a reasonable adjustment or mitigating circumstances, the tutor will already have been made aware of such circumstances. Any concerns about reasonable adjustments/mitigating circumstances should be raised with the module lead and/ or module assessor.

Generally students will be given an opportunity to practice peer assessment within formative assessments (i.e. these do not impact on the module marks) to practice assessing their peers prior to undertaking any summative (i.e. assessment that does contribute towards the final marks given on a module) peer assessment activity.

Appeals Process

Whilst students are not allowed to challenge marks they have been awarded for a particular assessment as the outcome of academic judgement (i.e. the base mark), they do have the right to appeal against the peer adjusted element of their assessment mark. This is only possible if they are in possession of evidence relevant to the peer adjusted mark which was not available to the responsible academic, there is evidence of procedural irregularity in the peer assessment process, or there is evidence of prejudice or bias on the part of one or more of the peers.

Students should submit any peer assessment appeal to this webform within ten working days of the publication of marks including details of the nature of and grounds for their appeal, and include all relevant evidence to support their claims. Appeals will normally be dealt with on a case-by-case basis by the module lead and the Head/ Deputy Head of Group who will review the claim and the associated evidence, make an academic judgement about the validity of the claim, and decide the outcome.

 

References

Boud, D., Cohen, R., & Sampson, J (Eds.). (2001). Peer Learning in Higher Education: Learning from and with Each Other (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315042565 

Falchikov, N. (2005). Improving Assessment through Student’s Involvement: Practical Solutions for Aiding Learning in Higher and Further Education. Routledge.

Havnes, A., & McDowell, L. (Eds.). (2007). Balancing Dilemmas in Assessment and Learning in Contemporary Education (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203942185