Peer Assessment as a Teaching and Learning Process: The Observations and Reflections of Three Facilitators on a First-Year Undergraduate Critical Skills Module

This article reflects on the experiences and observations of three facilitators as they
facilitated first-year undergraduate students in a peer assessment exercise. The peer
assessment exercise in question is an integral part of the new Critical Skills module
developed by Maynooth University and the focus of this article is on the facilitators’
reflections of how this assessment approach succeeded in terms of intended and
unintended learning outcomes. The learning outcomes are explored using four
categories developed by Boud, Cohen and Sampson (1999) – Team-work and
Collaboration; Critical Enquiry; Communication Skills and Learning to Learn. The article
also includes reflections on certain challenges and concerns that arose and bear
consideration when adopting peer assessment as a teaching and learning strategy.