Week 2 - self & peer assessment

Notes on McDonnell (2006): E-Learning Groups and Communities

Highlights importance of allowing students to perform self-assessment to help them become 'self-managing people who can take responsibility for their own learning:

"If this is indeed a valid notion of what an educated person is, then it is clear that the educatioanal process in all our main institutions of higher education does not prepare students to acquire such self-determining competence" (Heron, 1981)

"The evaluation process provides a signal to students about the kind of learning they are expected to cary out; they adapt by choosing strategies that will apparently maximize success" (Ramsden, 1988)

"Collaborative assessment is particularly important in the context of e-learning groups and communities, where an ethos of collaboration and cooperation exists. In this context, the expectation is for students to engage in helping each other develop, review and assess each other's course work"

"It is the collaborative learning and assessment process itself that signals to the students what form of learning is expected of them" (McConnell 2000)

"In contexts where e-learning courses are run on a learning community, or 'community of practice' (Wenger, 1998) basis, it is necessary that the course is designed to ensure that students and tutors engage in meaningful practices through cooperative and collaborative learning processes, and to ensure that knowledge developed is demonstrated in the context of the student's professional practice. This can be achieved by the development of a climate where commenting on each other's work, and giving and receiving feedback are integrated and normal parts of the community's day-to-day work" This justifies the practice on the CG Arts course.

Got to p.94.