Abstract:

Transnational education policies have increasingly emphasized the importance of active, collaborative, and student-centred pedagogies to prepare students with essential competences for navigating increasingly complex and uncertain futures. However, pedagogical practices in secondary education remain largely grounded in traditional approaches that reduce opportunities for formative feedback and limit the development of student agency and the development of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL). SRL is essential for academic success, involving cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and social processes that enable students to manage their own learning. Zimmerman’s sociocognitive model highlights the cyclical and social nature of SRL. In this context, peer observation and feedback provide structured opportunities for students to reflect on strategies, develop autonomy, and strengthen self-efficacy. Research shows that these practices foster metacognitive, motivational, and communicative gains, demonstrating that peer observation and feedback act as important catalysts for both self-regulated and co-regulated learning.

This study presents an innovative pedagogical proposal designed to address this challenge: the implementation of peer observation and collaborative feedback practices among 8th to 10th grade students from four Portuguese schools, with the aim of promoting SRL. During the intervention, which includes collaborative pedagogical tasks and cycles of peer observation and feedback, students complete an observation guide designed to structure their observations, support the feedback process, and record the practices they observe. Several rounds of observation and feedback were carried out throughout the school year. Midway through and at the end of the intervention, focus group discussions were conducted with students to gain insight into how they were experiencing the processes of observation and feedback and to understand their perceived effects on the development of self-regulated learning.

The research followed a qualitative approach and included the analysis of 789 student-completed observation guides and ten focus groups. These data made it possible to identify students perceived effects, the strengths and limitations of the pedagogical proposal, and the ways in which peer observation and feedback mediate the phases of forethought, performance, and self-reflection that characterize self-regulated learning.

The results show that peer observation strengthens self-regulation by encouraging reflection on learning strategies, promoting more frequent and meaningful feedback, and enhancing students’ awareness of their own learning processes. Students also highlight the development of transversal competences, such as communication, collaboration, and critical thinking, which reinforce the connection between co-regulated and self-regulated learning. The practice proved particularly relevant for fostering greater autonomy, clarity of goals, and responsibility in students’ academic paths.

In this presentation, we aim to:
a) introduce the peer observation and peer feedback model implemented in the study;
b) present the main findings emerging from the observation guides and the focus group discussions; and
c) reflect on the contributions of this study across different school contexts and educational levels, reinforcing the shift toward student-centred pedagogies.

Keywords:

Self-regulated learning, Peer observation, Feedback, Secondary education.