Pathways Through Peer Assessment: Implementing Peer Assessment in a Lower Secondary Physics Classroom

Peer assessment has been shown to advance learning, for example, by improving one's work, but the variance of learning benefits within or between studies has not been explained. The purpose of this case study was to examine what kinds of pathways students have through peer assessment and to study which factors affect them when peer assessment is implemented in the early stage of physics studies in the context of conducting and reporting inquiry. Data sources used include field notes, audio recordings of lessons, student lab reports, written peer feedback, and student interviews. We examined peer assessment from the perspective of individual students and found 3 profiles of peer assessment: (1) students that improved their lab report after peer assessment and expressed other benefits, (2) students that did not improve their lab report but expressed other benefits, and (3) students that did not experience any benefits. Three factors were found to explain these differences in students' pathways: (1) students' engagement in conducting and reporting inquiry, (2) the quality of received feedback, and (3) students' understanding of formative assessment. Most students experienced some benefits of peer assessment, even if they did not put effort into their own work or receive constructive feedback. Nevertheless, in this case study, both improving one's work and experiencing other benefits of peer assessment required sufficient accomplishment of all 3 factors.