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This chapter shares ideas about how to encourage students to take responsibility for their individual learning and their role as a team member through the use of team contracts and peer evaluations. We also share how instructors can more easily determine individual grades for team projects. Team contracts can help instill a sense of responsibility, encourage accountability, and add structure by promoting the clarification of task-specific roles. In conjunction with team contracts, peer evaluations can reinforce the responsibilities assigned through the contract. Peer evaluations provide an opportunity for students to objectively and thoughtfully evaluate team member contributions to the collective result and reward individual participants more equitably related to the outcome obtained.

The chapter provides discussion and examples of student-developed team contracts and a sample peer evaluation form along with a discussion of how these documents have been used in the classroom. Using responses from a convenience survey of undergraduate and graduate students, we conclude by examining student feedback to suggest patterns of the perceptions of students toward the use of these tools.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model that addresses how student citizenship behavior (CB) may be motivated by management of impression in a team-based project using peer evaluations.

This study applies impression management (IM) theory as the theoretical lens to explore the impact of IM tactics, in the forms of task-, self- and peer-focused tactics, on student CB in a team-based project using peer evaluations.

This paper posits that task-, self- and peer-focused IM tactics positively influence a student’s CB in a team-based project when peer evaluations are used. Furthermore, it is proposed that the relative weight of a peer evaluation strengthens the relationship between the three IM tactics and a student’s CB.

From a theoretical standpoint, this study extends IM–CB relationship from the employment setting to the academic setting. More importantly, this study offers crucial recommendations for instructors that may help improve the effectiveness of peer evaluations.

As global issues such as climate change, economic growth, social equality and the wealth gap are widely discussed, education for sustainable development (ESD) allows every human being to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values necessary to shape a sustainable future. It also requires participatory teaching and learning methods that motivate and empower learners to change their behavior and take action for sustainable development. Teachers have begun rating pupils based on peer assessment for open evaluation. Peer assessment enables students to transition from passive to active feedback recipients. The assessors improve critical thinking and encourage introspection, resulting in more significant recommendations. However, the quality of peer assessment is variable, resulting in reviewers not recognizing the remarks of other reviewers, therefore the benefits of peer assessment cannot be fulfilled. In the past, researchers frequently employed post-event questionnaires to examine the effects of peer assessment on learning effectiveness, which did not accurately reflect the quality of peer assessment in real time.

This study employs a multi-label model and develops a self-feedback system in order to use the AIOLPA system in the classroom to enhance students' learning efficacy and the validity of peer assessment.

The research findings indicate that the better peer assessment through the rapid feedback system, for the evaluator, encourages more self-reflection and attempts to provide more ideas, so bringing the peer rating closer to the instructor rating and assisting the evaluator. Improve self-evaluation and critical thinking for the evaluator, peers make suggestions and comments to help improve the work and support the growth of students' learning effectiveness, which can lead to more suggestions and an increase in the work’s quality.

ESD consequently promotes competencies like critical thinking, imagining future scenarios and making decisions in a collaborative way. This study builds an online peer assessment system with a self-feedback mechanism capable of classifying peer comments, comparing them with scores in a consistent manner and providing prompt feedback to critics.

Tests the validity and reliability of peer evaluations of student performance among 75 third‐year university students on a management course. Each student predicted the future performance of the other members of his/her seminar group in the final exam for the course on two separate occasions. Validates the extent to which these predictions matched the actual performances of the ratees in the final exam. The students also rated their similarity to each of the ratees on three aspects relevant to the course. The test‐retest reliability and validity coefficients of the peer evaluations were both significant. The validity of evaluations for others perceived to be similar was significantly higher than for those perceived to be dissimilar. Develops implications of these results for assessment and evaluation in higher education.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the teachers implemented innovative feedback approaches in their writing classroom and the extent to which the innovative feedback approaches impacted upon student attitude and performance in writing. In the writing classroom, teacher feedback serves as an assessment as well as a pedagogical tool to enhance the teaching and learning of writing. While there is no shortage of literature on the topic of feedback per se, there is scant research on teachers’ attempts to implement change to conventional feedback practices, as well as the impact of such feedback innovation on student learning. Drawing on data gathered from individual teacher interviews, student questionnaires, student focus group interviews, pre-and post-writing tests and classroom observations, this study seeks to explore two teachers’ change initiative in their writing feedback approaches.

The study used multiple sources of data including individual teacher interviews, student questionnaires and student focus group.

The results suggest that the innovative feedback approaches helped to enhance the motivation and writing performance of the students. The paper concludes with implications and insights to help teachers implement similar feedback innovations in their contexts.

First, the findings suggest that focused written corrective feedback is a viable option for responding to student writing, especially for low proficiency students in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts. Second, teachers might consider the option of removal or delay in the reporting of scores, where appropriate. Third, more intensive training might be necessary to help students improve their peer evaluation skills and their ability to write more constructive comments for their peers.

The significance of the study lies in the contribution it can make to existing writing feedback research that pays insufficient attention to teacher feedback in real classroom contexts, uncovering the process through which teachers attempt to bring improvement to conventional feedback practices, as well as the impact of feedback innovation on student learning in naturally occurring classroom contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the most fair, authentic, and reliable elements to include in a portfolio of faculty work, specifically at teaching-centered institutions.

This paper examines and evaluates relevant literature pertaining to faculty portfolios of work and recommends portfolio formats for teaching-centered institutions.

The author concludes that the four most essential components of a faculty member’s portfolio at a teaching-centered university are mindful student evaluations, critical peer evaluations, a sample of teaching materials, and evidence of collegial behavior.

This paper is valuable for administrators, deans, and department chairs who are evaluating their current rank, tenure, and promotions criteria and processes.

The purpose of this paper is to check the veracity of educators’ apprehensions about peer assessments by comparing them with the actual peer assessment scores. It also explores the levels of satisfaction and current usage of peer assessment tools among educators.

The first phase of this study aims at providing insights into the educators’ apprehensions, their satisfaction and usage levels of peer assessments. The second phase involves analysis of peer assessment scores of 539 students in 117 teams. Findings from statistical analysis of peer assessment scores are compared against the apprehensions of educators.

The results do not support the apprehensions among educators about peer assessments. Findings on the usage, satisfaction levels of educators and their future intentions of using peer assessments are also presented in this paper.

Studies with larger sample size, qualitative in-depth research on experiences, designs and conditions of successful peer assessments and studies based on users’ experiences of peer assessments will help in getting richer insights in this area.

Results of this study indicate a need for educators to shed their apprehensions and adopt online or offline peer assessments tools with trust and confidence.

This study is important due to the existence of contrary views, inconsistent results and lack of adequate familiarity about the use, efficacy and practice of peer assessments. Though previous studies have tried to establish the reliability of peer assessments, this study finds that educators are still apprehensive about peer assessments. This is a unique study as no previous research has attempted a comparative study to check the veracity of the apprehensions of educators about peer assessments using the actual peer assessment scores.

Contextualizing grammar in second language (L2) classrooms implies making grammar constructs relevant to the learners’ world; affording learners the opportunities to better comprehend and apply these concepts in their own milieus. This instructional design (ID) has been devised to contextualize grammar and to explore learner engagement of pre-service English teachers through Computer-Aided Learning (CAL) and Task-based Learning (TBL) in a technology-driven learning environment. CAL encompasses technology-aided discussions, multi-media presentations, online tests and exercises, and social media deployment. TBL, on the other hand, contextualizes grammar using technology and social network in planning, executing, and presenting four assigned tasks: picture essay, brochure design, dialogue composition, and comic strips illustration. Facebook is the e-portfolio of the class, archiving all group and individual output. The CAL-TBL tandem is propelled by group initiatives and class collaboration evident in group discussions and planning, microteaching, task presentations, peer reviews, and self-evaluations. These initiatives engage learners; empowering students to collaboratively take active part and responsibility for their own learning. The three-hour-class meets every week in a computer laboratory. The post-semester feedback and online poll course design review as well as the University Course Evaluation comments have shown that the ID, from the learners’ perspective, is effective in contextualizing grammar and in engaging learners.

As group work is becoming more common in the classroom, teamwork as an andragogical tool continues to be problematic for students in management programs. The purpose of this paper is to determine how university students perceive teamwork and to identify teamwork problems along with potential solutions.

A triangulation mixed-methods approach was used. In study 1, qualitative data were gathered from a focus group comprising nine students. In study 2, quantitative data were gathered from an online survey completed by 127 students.

The data were analyzed using content analysis and ordinary least squares regression. The results indicated that free-rider experiences and peer evaluation are two key areas in determining dissatisfaction with teamwork. Teamwork challenges may be addressed via knowledgeable team leaders who balance task and relationship styles, equitable workloads, smaller team sizes, anonymous peer evaluations and the effective use of technology.

The findings are valuable to educators at tertiary-level institutions who utilize teamwork as an andragogical tool.

This study was designed to deepen understanding of university students' dissatisfaction with teamwork in Trinidad and Tobago and provide andragogical improvements that can be implemented to enhance the students' teamwork experience.

Prior research suggests that collaboration is key to sustainable community development and environmental management, and peer-to-peer learning (P2PL) may facilitate community building and collaborative learning skills. This study aims to examine the effect of P2PL on the enhancement of environmental management and sustainable development skills, community building and social capital (i.e. connectedness) and understanding of course learning objectives.

Quantitative and qualitative longitudinal survey data was collected in a sustainable development focused course offered at a large American public university that uses P2PL to explicitly facilitate community building and collaborative skills. Safety precautions and changing locational course offerings due to the COVID-19 pandemic in years 2020, 2021 and 2022 provided an opportunity to evaluate the impact of P2PL on these skills during both virtual and in-person formats. Additionally, this study compared in-course student evaluations with students taking other sustainable development-related courses with collaborative learning aspects to understand the wider effectiveness of this course structure.

This study finds that course format (virtual vs in-person) overall made no difference in either connectedness or conceptual understandings, and that students in both formats felt more connected to others than students taking other courses with P2PL. Scaffolding P2PL and supplemental peer support can yield improved connectedness and learning among students taking environmental coursework.

Sustainable development requires group collaboration and partnership building skills. Issues are consistently raised about the challenges to teaching these skills in higher education. The students and instructors in this research study identify P2PL strategies to address these challenges for in-person and virtual classroom settings.