APPROACHING TO TEACHERS’ GRADING: WHAT IS THE CORRECT ORDER FOR IMPLEMENTING PEER- AND SELF-ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION CONTEXT?

Learning, from a constructivist perspective, is regarded as a constructivist act of the learner. Along with changes in learning theory, several instructional innovations and alternative assessment methods found their ways into educational practice. Among these methods, self-assessment and peer-assessment dominate the assessment literature as these bring many advantages such as enhancing autonomy of learners, saving time for teachers, and building productive classrooms. As both self- and peer-assessment is based on learners’ judgements, it is found to be hard to build objectivity in these assessment methods. Learners might be harsh in peer-assessment but generous in giving marks while they evaluate themselves. Bearing this in mind, a particular sequence of self and peer-assessment might help to build objectivity in assessing self and peer. In this study, the timing and order of peer-assessment and self-assessment about when they should be incorporated into the assessment procedure in the pre-service teacher education program were examined. The data of the study were collected through self-, peer-assessment and teacher assessment of the same examination taken by 30 freshmen pre-service English Language Teachers in Contextual Grammar Course, stimulated recall interviews and learner-opinion questionnaire depicting their views of this particular experience. Both qualitative and quantitative data in this mixed-methods sequential explanatory type design were analyzed through descriptive, correlation and content analysis. The results highlight the importance of alternative assessment in teacher education program and learners’ potential in the assessment process. This study has some implications for curriculum designers, material developers, language instructors and learners.