3.2.5. BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLES
Best practices within the scope of peer assessment, focus on the use of the Moodle workshop module. In the literature, several studies document the use of this module within the scope of different courses mostly perceiving it as effective, intuitive and with peer assessment being mostly consistent with teacher feedback (Dooley, 2009; Strang, 2015). Despite pointing out some limitations to retrieving and exporting data, research suggests that, overall, the use of this peer assessment tool facilitates assessment (by making it a shared experience), being that it is also flexible and reliable (Strang, 2015).
An example of how peer assessment can be used in a Moodle environment is provided below (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Setting up a Workshop (Peer Assessment) in Moodle (University of Aveiro’s Moodle environment)
In addition to defining the name of the workshop and providing a description (optional), you can define key settings (such as the deadline, maximum number of uploaded files and whether students are allowed to self-grade), as well as determine the grading method to be used (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Defining grading strategies in Moodle (University of Aveiro’s Moodle environment)
Other settings include submission (instructions, attachments, file types and late submissions), assessment settings (instructions and self-assessment), feedback (mode, attachments, file types and conclusion), example submissions and availability.
Moodle workshop is organized in five different phases: setup, submission, assessment, grading/evaluation and closing of the activity, all of which can be monitored in the phase box (Figure 3). This means that in addition to submitting their assignments (in the submission phase), students also receive submissions from other students to review (assessment phase), according to the instructions and criteria provided by the teacher (who can also require students to assess their own work – self-assessment).
Figure 3. Peer feedback phases (University of Aveiro’s Moodle environment)
Following the assessment stage, the final grade will be calculated, and students will receive their peers’ feedback (grading), after which the activity will be closed.