Observed Quality of Formative Peer and Self-Assessment in Everyday Mathematics Teaching and its Effects on Student Performance

• Published in: European journal of educational research Vol. 11-2022; no. volume-11-issue-2-april-2022; pp. 663 - 680
• Main Authors: Zulliger, Sandra, Buholzer, Alois, Ruelmann, Merle
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Eurasian Society of Educational Research 01-01-2022
• Subjects: Division; Elementary School Mathematics; Elementary School Students; Foreign Countries; Formative Evaluation; Grade 4; Mathematics Achievement; Mathematics Instruction; Metacognition; Peer Evaluation; Program Effectiveness; Self Evaluation (Individuals); Student Evaluation; Switzerland
• ISSN: 2165-8714; 2165-8714
• DOI: 10.12973/eu-jer.11.2.663

The positive effect of peer assessment and self-assessment strategies on learners' performance has been widely confirmed in experimental or quasi-experimental studies. However, whether peer and self-assessment within everyday mathematics teaching affect student learning and achievement, has rarely been studied. This study aimed to determine with what quality peer and self-assessment occur in everyday mathematics instruction and whether and which students benefit from it in terms of achievement and the learning process. Two lessons on division were video-recorded and rated to determine the quality of peer and self-assessment. Six hundred thirty-four students of fourth-grade primary school classes in German-speaking Switzerland participated in the study and completed a performance test on division. Multilevel analyses showed no general effect of the quality of peer or self-assessment on performance. However, high-quality self-assessment was beneficial for lower-performing students, who used a larger repertoire of calculation strategies, which helped them perform better. In conclusion, peer and self-assessment in real-life settings only have a small effect on the student performance in this Swiss study.