Abstract:

The change from an assessment of learning paradigm to an assessment for learning paradigm makes students more responsible for their learning and requires changes in pedagogical strategies. Assessment for learning is central to education because of its potential to regulate teaching and learning processes, leading to greater responsibility and reflexivity on the part of both students and teachers. In addition, at a student level, it enhances the development of metacognitive, problem-solving, critical and creative thinking skills. These competences are essential in education in this 21st century, which is global and technological, but also where there are levels of uncertainty that demand a capacity for divergent thinking. This paper reports on the use of peer assessment in a course unit of a pre-service teacher programme in higher education. It uses a student-centred assessment approach that involves students in an in-depth analysis of the quality of their own work and the work of their peers. The students took responsibility for assessing their peers' work using previously defined, negotiated and understood assessment criteria. The results showed that the students became more aware of their level of performance, identifying strengths and weaknesses in their work, but also more aware of ways in which they could improve. The results show how the significant involvement of students in peer assessment processes can promote self- and peer-assessment skills and, above all, self-regulation of their performance.

Keywords:

Assessment for learning, peer assessment, self-regulation, pre-service teachers, higher education.