A European Commission Expert Calls for Students to be Involved in the Peer Evaluation Process

 

The expert reviewer for the European Commission and national grant-awarding bodies in Europe, Prof. Mark Davis said, “The strategy of peer evaluation contributes to the students’ comprehension of the subjects they study. It also engages the students actively in the educational process. Besides, this strategy enables the students to criticize their own work.

Prof. Davis spoke in a workshop organized by the Unit for Teaching Excellence and Leadership (UTEL) at UoB last Tuesday entitled “Students as Partners or Pawns in Assessment” at Zain e-Learning Centre at UoB, Sakhir.

Prof. Davis explained, “In the peer evaluation process, the students evaluate their peers’ assignments and tests according to quality standards set by the teachers. The peer evaluation process is closely linked with self-evaluation”.

The European expert added that this strategy can help students learn decision-making skills, criticism and evaluation, and view the evaluation used in correcting the answer sheet so that they become more careful and more interested to submit their own work in the future. What is more, it leads to the independence of the students.

Dr. Ahmad Tawalbeh, Head of Public Relations & Media Communications Department at Gulf University said, “Teaching nowadays has completely changed from the methods it was in the past and there is a real revolution in education going on”. He added, “These workshops enforce this revolution in education, and contribute to further development. Specifically, peer evaluation for it gains the attention of all universities”.

Assistant Prof. Sawsan Karimiat, of Social Sciences Department at UoB, said, “These workshops are very necessary,” explaining, “as time passes, many teachers become repetitive and deadlocked. These kinds of workshops are considered to be good chance for intellectual renewal, and innovation of new teaching methods”.

Prof. Karimiat continued, “These workshops are of great importance as they provide an opportunity for self-development and enhancing the skills of the teachers. In addition, the workshops give them greater self-confidence. This will be directly reflected on the students’ intellectual formation in a positive way”.