Article

Using Peer Assessments in Team Activities

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Abstract

Regardless of the path industrial technology students take upon graduation, they will be required to work effectively as part of a team. To help students develop the skills necessary for this, many industrial technology faculty incorporate team activities into their curricula. Time constraints placed on busy faculty and research supporting the positive benefits of cooperative learning 1 represent two additional reasons for incorporating cooperative group-based learning activities into classes. But, how do faculty assess student progress and assign grades when using team activities? Most who have tried have confronted the inevitable group versus individual problems. While most cooperative learning experts conclude that group activities work best when team grades are adjusted for individual performance (Kaufman, Felder, and Fuller, 2000), this is challenging to accomplish because of the difficulty in ascertaining individual ability and accomplishments within the context of group activities—particularly in larger classes. This article explores the process of using peer assessments in cooperative learning to hold students individually accountable and thereby provide fair grading to students who do the work, as well as to those who do not.

Keywords: administration|curriculum|higher education|management|teaching methods

How to Cite:

Freeman, S. A. & Dyrenfurth, M. J., (2003) “Using Peer Assessments in Team Activities”, Journal of Industrial Technology 20(1).