Self-assessment and Peer-assessment within Design and Technology Education

Andrew Halliwell

In design and technology, assessment is as crucial as iterative design and critical product analysis. By using self- assessment and peer-assessment, design and technology teachers can make informed decisions about what skills and concepts to teach, and determine whether students are developing, consolidating, or have a secure grasp of their understanding and abilities. This guide focuses on the significance of two key assessment methods in design and technology: self-assessment and peer-assessment.

Self-assessment (SA) involves students evaluating their own work and progress. To facilitate this, teachers must create tasks that enable students to contemplate their performance at different points in the learning process. Peer-assessment (PA), on the other hand, involves students assessing one another's work. For this to occur, students should participate in activities that encourage them to provide constructive feedback on their classmates' assignments. The success of both self- and peer-assessment relies on fostering an environment where students feel self-assured, unafraid of making mistakes, persevere through challenges, and are motivated to improve. These assessment methods can significantly contribute to nurturing a growth mindset among students (Norris 2020; Schut 2022).

Within schools, students engage in learning through peer interactions, collaboratively identifying strengths, addressing weaknesses, and cultivating metacognitive skills. Serving as a framework for facilitating knowledge exchange, self and peer assessment can prove highly advantageous. These pedagogical activities enable students to assess both their own work and that of their peers by offering constructive feedback within a supportive environment. According to Neo (2003), immersing students in learning environments where mutual learning occurs provides optimal opportunities for intellectual and academic development. Knowledge creation, in this context, becomes a result of social negotiation and discussion among peers. Pozzi et al. (2007) further characterise this as 'the primary way to learn,' emphasising the importance of critical thinking and understanding. For designers, sharing knowledge with others enhances their creativity and helps them to produce creative ideas (Elsbach & Flynn, 2013; Turnbull et al., 2012). This is crucial as design and technology in schools must enable students to work creatively (Department for Education, 2015). For teachers, involving students in their own learning has indicated improvements in academic performance, knowledge-sharing capabilities, and cognitive skills (Andrade, 2019; Davies, 2002).

The prominence of SA and PA activities in educational settings are highlighted as effective approaches for engaging students in their own learning and ensuring transparency in assessment criteria (Panadero et al., 2013). SA involves learners making judgments about their progress, aiming to generate feedback that fosters further learning (Andrade, 2019). In the context of collaborative learning, peer assessment is viewed as a valuable strategy where students evaluate their peers' work based on specific criteria and provide feedback or grades (Alt & Raichel, 2018). Teaching students, therefore, how to mark and evaluate project work, when completing an iterative design project, can be of significant academic benefit (Halliwell, 2023).

Topping (2017) argues that effective PA requires training, checklists, examples, and practice for reliable assessments. Immediate practice is essential, with feedback and coaching focusing on students' reasoning and justification, aligning with the findings of Van Zundert et al. (2010), who observed increased domain-specific skills and positive attitudes toward PA when trained and experienced peer assessors provided feedback.

To mitigate interpersonal tensions, Davies (2002) recommends introducing anonymity during peer assessment (PA) to eliminate biases stemming from friendships, uniformity, and race. Lu and Law (2012) endorse online peer assessment as a method for students to evaluate, provide feedback, and critique their peers' work anonymously. Conducting assessments online enables teachers to monitor students' participation and progress in real time, as highlighted by Topping (2018). Ensuring a conducive environment for quality feedback, Bhalerao and Ward (2001) emphasise the importance of allowing students to freely comment on others' work without the fear of reprisal. In order, therefore, for self-assessment and peer-assessment to be set up in the classroom the following is, suggested:

  • Anonymity of feedback – this avoids the problems of social tensions and removes the bias from friendships, uniformity and race (Davies, 2002).
  • Microsoft OneNote – This enables students to mark, feedback and critique the work of peers easily and anonymously. This also allows teachers to oversee the process and progress of students (Lu & Law , 2012).
  • Marked examples – Students should be shown how the mark scheme is used and referred to when justifying marks and evaluating student work. Some authors suggest that the students should help construct the marking criteria for greater clarity (Topping, 2018).
  • Assessor training – Students should have the opportunity to practice marking and giving justifying constructive comments for a piece of work. This could then be either assessed by the teacher or compared with the teachers own grading for the same piece of work.

This summary aims to empower educators in implementing effective self and peer assessment strategies by fostering a collaborative and supportive learning environment for students in design and technology. For an example please see Halliwell, (2023).

References and further reading

Alt, D., & Raichel, N. (2018). Lifelong Citizenship: Lifelong Learning as a Lever for Moral and Democratic Values. In Lifelong Citizenship (pp. 1–19). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789463512398_001

Andrade, H. L. (2019). A Critical Review of Research on Student Self-Assessment. Frontiers in Education, 4. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2019.00087

Bhalerao, A., & Ward, A. (2001). Towards electronically assisted peer assessment: A case study. ALT-J, 9(1), 26–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687760108656773

Brookhart, S. M. (2010). How to Assess Higher-order Thinking Skills in Your Classroom. ASCD.

Davies, P. (2002). Using Student Reflective Self-Assessment for Awarding Degree Classifications. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 39(4), 307–319. https://doi.org/10.1080/13558000210161034

Halliwell, A. J. T. (2023). Exploring the Use of Peer and Self-Assessment as a Pedagogical Tool in UK Secondary Design Education. The 40th International Pupils’ Attitudes Towards Technology Conference Proceedings 2023, 1(October), Article October. https://openjournals.ljmu.ac.uk/PATT40/article/view/1406

Lu, J., & Law, N. (2012). Online peer assessment: Effects of cognitive and affective feedback. Instructional Science, 40(2), 257–275. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-011-9177-2

Norris, S., 2020, Assessing design and technology. In: A. Hardy, ed., Learning to Teach Design and Technology in the Secondary School. Routledge, 2020, pp. 251-272.

Panadero, E., Broadbent, J., Boud, D., & Lodge, J. M. (2019). Using formative assessment to influence self- and co-regulated learning: The role of evaluative judgement. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 34(3), 535–557. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-018-0407-8

Panadero, E., Romero, M., & Strijbos, J.-W. (2013). The impact of a rubric and friendship on peer assessment: Effects on construct validity, performance, and perceptions of fairness and comfort. Studies In Educational Evaluation, 39, 195–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2013.10.005

Schut, A., 2022, Exploring the potential of feedback within the creative processes of a design and technology classroom. In: A. Hardy, ed., Debates in Design and Technology Education. 2nd ed. Routledge, 2022, pp. 238-251.

Topping, K. (2017). Peer Assessment: Learning by Judging and Discussing the Work of Other Learners. Interdisciplinary Education and Psychology, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.31532/InterdiscipEducPsychol.1.1.007

Topping, K. (2018). Using Peer Assessment to Inspire Reflection and Learning. Routledge.

Van Zundert, M., Sluijsmans, D., & Van Merriënboer, J. (2010). Effective peer assessment processes: Research findings and future directions. Learning and Instruction, 20(4), 270–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2009.08.004

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