Involving students in the assessment process: Peer assessment and self assessment

The aim of this study is to determine the feasibility of peer assessment and self assessment in prep classes of Higher Education Institutions. The question of whether teachers can involve their students in the assessment process or not is tried to be answered through peer assessment and self assessment.64 intermediate level students studying at A and B classes of Preparatory School of Abant İzzet Baysal University during 2007-2008 Academic Year joined the study. Students in Class A were given a scale before and after peer assessment and self assessment training and their opinions about these two types of assessment were sought. After training period, students were provided with a peer assessment form to assess their peers? oral presentations and the results obtained were compared to teacher?s. And then, the grades that students in Class A and Class B got from their oral presentations were compared to determine whether peer assessment has a positive effect on students? oral presentation performance.The data gathered at the end of the study were analyzed by using SPSS 13.0 statistical program. To determine the significance of the change in students? opinions before and after training paired samples t-test was used. Pearson correlation coefficient was the technique which was used to correlate students? peer assessment results and teacher assessments. Finally, independent samples t- test was used to determine whether there was a significant difference between the groups? success of oral presentations.According to the findings, students have positive opinions about peer assessment and self assessment and they are willing to peer assess their classmates. Also, it was found that the correlation between teacher ratings and peer assessment ratings of oral presentations was high. Students are able to peer assess their classmates accurately if necessary training and practice are provided. When two groups were compared, it was clear that there was a difference between the oral presentation success of two groups but the difference wasn?t significant.Key words: Peer assessment, Self assessment, Learner autonomy, Oral presentations