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Self and Peer Assessment

Features and Functions

The Self and Peer Assessment tool allows students to provide a review of their own work (for the instructor to see) or provide reviews of their peers’ work. Large classes can benefit from the Self and Peer Assessment tool by distributing the administrative workload; quality feedback can be provided from several different individuals, instead of relying upon a single instructor. Assessments can be scheduled to allow time for the submission and evaluation process to be completed, including the time to access any content items associated with the assessment. Note that Self and Peer Assessments are completely separate from other tests and surveys or assignments created using the Assignments tool.

The tool works in two stages: first, students have a period of time to submit their work, and then they can provide evaluation of others’ work or that of their own. 

To create a new Assessment

  1. Open the Control Panel within a course.
  2. Click any of the links within the Content Areas section.
  3. Select Self and Peer from the Select drop-down menu.
  4. Click Go.
  5. Enter a name for the Assessment in the Name field. Note: At this point, a new column in the Grade Center is created with the same name.
  6. Enter instructions for the Assessment in the Instructions Visual Text Box Editor (VTBE).
  7. Set the Submission Start Date and Submission End Date by using the date and time fields.
  8. Set the Start Date and End Date for the peer evaluations by using the date and time fields.
  9. Allow Anonymous Evaluations by clicking the Yes radio button. Click No to disallow.
  10. Allow Self Evaluations by clicking the Yes radio button. Click No to disallow.
  11. Allow submitters to view their own Evaluation Results by clicking the Yes radio button next to Show Evaluation Results to Submitter. Click No to disallow.
  12. Define how many of their peers' Assessments each student is expected to evaluate in the Number of Submissions to Evaluate field. Note: The number entered in the Number of  Submissions to Evaluate field does not include the creator of the Assessment. Enter zero (0) in this field if Self Evaluations are the only kind desired for an Assessment.
  13. Make the Assessment available by clicking the Yes radio button. Click No to make it unavailable.
  14. Track the number of views by clicking the Yes radio button. Click No to disable tracking.
  15. Click the Display After and/or Display Until check boxes to control when the content is available.
  16. Set the date and time restrictions for the attached content by using the date and time fields under Display After or Display Until.
  17. Click Submit.

After the Assessment is created, provide questions to which you want students to respond. You can create such questions in Modify > Assessment Canvas. You also have the option of providing a model response for each question that will be available for the evaluators when the submission period is over.

After each question is created, you will be prompted to provide evaluation criteria that will be used by peer evaluators. You can also specify the number of points each criterion is worth as well as whether partial credit can be awarded.

When students begin working with this tool, they first will need to answer the questions that you have provided for them and submit their answers. After the submission period has ended, they can return to the same link in the content area to find the list of peer work that they are to evaluate. After clicking on either their own work or that of a peer, they will be able to read the responses to each question and view any model responses you provided. They are prompted to give credit for each criterion; the tool walks them through each one you provided. Evaluations can be modified or reviewed until the end date for evaluation period.

After the end of the evaluation period, students will be able to see feedback on their work if you chose this option when setting up the assessment. At this point, you will be able to see the results of the peer assessment at Control Panel > Self and Peer Assessment. When you click on the assessment, you will have three options: