Focus group interview
المؤلف:
Pauline Cho
المصدر:
Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Assessment
الجزء والصفحة:
2025-07-01
430
Focus group interview
In general, the students agreed that peer-assessment was good for them as it helped them to learn in another way by "changing their point of view as a marker". Poster assessment helped them to recognize and focus on the main issues of their work, and the time spent on the exercise was rewarded by what they learned. They also suggested that peer-assessment be used in other subjects.
The students found the preliminary (preparatory) work very useful and important (they were able to gain experience though practice before marking their own poster). They asserted that the normal practice of being provided with guidelines and criteria only was passive and inadequate. Active participation kept them 'well informed' of what they were expected to do and how to do it. However, some students commented that the discussion on how to set assessment criteria could be more useful if there was a follow-up discussion on the final assessment checklist, and a couple of students preferred the assessment criteria to be set by the teacher.
All students interviewed found poster making to be fun, and they appreciated that they were given a chance to learn how to use computer software to design their posters. Although most students agreed that it was an 'honor' to have their posters exhibited at a conference, some were disappointed that not many delegates actually spent time to read their posters. It was noted that the students' main concern was time constraints (in order to allow them to exhibit their posters at the conference, the deadline for submission of posters was brought forward), and although the students were given advance notice, most of them did not appreciate the reduction in time allowed for them to make their posters. The students also commented on the difficulty in printing A3 size posters, as there was only one printer that could print A3 size in the campus.
For peer-assessment, students were unanimous about it being a useful exercise which helped them to learn to be more objective and fair. The main concern about peer-assessment was that the students were not convinced that they had adequate ability to conduct the assessment properly, especially with regard to the content of the projects of other students. They were concerned about bias and inconsistencies between markers. They therefore agreed that masking was important and required, though they had difficulty in not letting other students know about their posters. They also suggested that the weighting of this element of poster assessment should be kept low.
Students were agreeable to the suggestion of incorporating a briefing session for each group of students to introduce their own project before peer-assessment. They felt that a formal presentation by each group of students would be helpful to allow their peers to understand what they were doing (in their project), and hence, when doing the peer-assessment, students would be in a better position to give marks more accurately. They were also agreeable to the suggestion that junior students (Year 3 students who had started their Project work) be invited to attend these briefing sessions, as this would be a good learning opportunity for them (the junior students).
Although students understood that bias would still exist even if different teachers marked the posters, they felt more confident that teachers usually have better understanding of students' work and hence could make better judgment about their work (than peers). The students preferred that their own supervisor be involved in the assessment of their poster with another teacher. This is because they felt that their supervisor would be in the best position to understand what they were doing in their project. They also recommended that there should be at least one teacher who would mark all posters to ensure consistency.
Although some students were of the opinion that the literature review was the most important element of the assessment of Project, the majority agreed that all three elements (literature review, poster and final project report) were of equal importance as each element helped the students to learn "different area in different ways". The students suggested that a group poster can be used instead of individual posters as this would cut down the workload of the students (in peer-assessment). However, they were also concerned that in a group poster, there may be a problem of different degrees of contribution and expectations from group members.
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