Undergraduate students in peer review: exploring assessment and feedback processes to develop evaluative judgement

Exemplar analysis and peer review are among key pedagogical activities that have been identified, by researchers, as being important for developing both students’ evaluative judgement and their feedback literacy.<br><br>The aim of this study was to explore what supported undergraduate students’ experiences of developing their judgements of quality and what supported students when implementing those judgements.

The study was carried out in a third level institution in the Republic of Ireland during a first year Bachelor of Arts social care module. The thirty-three participating students peer reviewed assessment work through a process which aimed to cultivate their experiences to judge not only their peers’ work, but ultimately their own. Qualitative data generated from students included exit slip reflections, recorded classroom discussions; two focus group discussions; and thirteen semi-structured interviews. <br><br>A reflexive thematic analysis of the data generated three main themes of importance for the students’ experiences: guidance, engagement, and judgement.