Examine the Effect of Self and Peer Evaluation on Learning Outcomes at Bangor University (Research Paper Sample)

Examine the Effect of Self and Peer Evaluation on Learning Outcomes at Bangor University Name: Subject: Date of submission Introduction The subject of assessment in higher education is attracting a lot of attention from scholars and practitioners in different fields. As evidenced, Peterson (2011), Dingel, Wei, and Huq (2013) have made publications on the subject in question. Critical to the debate is the fact that scholars and curriculum developers should assess students because the assessment helps them identify learning outcomes among students. It is imperative to highlight that scholars have developed different tools for assessing student outcomes in higher education. For instance, Edutopia (2008) reveals that students could be assessed through essays, observation, performance tasks, interviews, portfolios, exhibitions and demonstrations, journals, rubrics, teacher-created tests and self-and-peer evaluations. It is important to note it is challenging to discuss all the assessment techniques used in higher education because of the depth and required length to cover all the topics exhaustively. It is why the researcher settled on the subject of self-and-peer evaluations in higher education. To begin with, the term peer assessment could be elucidated as an assessment technique that tasks students with a duty of assessing work done by their fellow students (Crowe, Silva, Ceresola, 2015). Analogously self-assessment is an assessment technique where students are allowed to grade their own work. Therefore, the combination of the two words "peer and self' with assessment refers to using both individual and fellow learners effort to gauge learning outcomes (O'Grady, 2011). It is imperative to highlight that higher should education equip learners with the ability to develop reflective skills that allow them to assess their individual outcomes in their professional lives (Järvelä, 2011). It follows that using self and peer assessment techniques allow learners to acquire hands-on skills that will apply to their professional lives. As Langan et al., (2008) argues, it is important to identify the effect of assessment techniques on learning outcomes. This explains why the researcher conducted a study to examine the effect of peer and self-assessment at Bangor University. It is clear that the researcher intended to identify the effect of self and peer evaluation on learning outcomes at Bangor University. Critical to the debate is the fact that identifying research questions is important owing to the fact they direct researchers in the scope of the study. Consequently, the researcher identified four research questions, which directed the researcher in the entire study. The research questions are listed below. 1 To identify whether peer evaluation is used in learning at Bangor University. 2 To determine whether self-evaluation is used in learning at Bangor University. 3 To identify students perception about self and peer evaluations at Bangor University. 4 To identify the effect of self and peer evaluation on learning outcomes at Bangor University. The paper discusses the research questions in four main headings. As evidence, the paper includes a methodology, results, discusses the results before making a conclusion based on the results. It is critical that evidence from studies on peer and self-evaluations reveals that peer evaluations are important in higher education. Specifically, Slujsmans Dochy and Moerkerke (2008) cite that students who used self-evaluation always have better grades in their coursework. Further, Tan and Keat (n.d) reveal that the global employment market is transforming assessment in higher education by encouraging learning institutions to be responsible for their own work. In a different study, Langan, Shuker, Cullen, Penney, Preziosi, and Wheater (2008) reveal that peer assessment is closely associated with teacher assessment than self-assessment. Simply put, peer assessment is more credible than self-assessment because it is more likely to reflect teachers' perception on learning outcomes. In short, the subject of using self and peer assessment is important in higher education owing to its effects on students. Methodology Information Resources Management Association (2015) reveals that the methodology section is rudimental when writing a research paper owing to its provision of information that could be used to judge the validity of the paper. It follows that researchers should use the section to provide a clear and precise description of how the study was conducted. Critical to the discussion is the fact that the methodology should be written clearly because clarity provides room for a reproducible study. In addition, clarity provides the audience with an ability to judge whether the paper could be used for decision-making. It is also important to highlight that the clarity of the methodology section is obtained by discussing topics such as the study area, the research design, ethical issues, study tools, data collection, and analysis. Consequently, this section discusses how the study was conducted by focusing on the topics mentioned above. Study Area Bangor University is found in north Wales specifically between the sea and Snowdonia. The institution was founded in 1844 when was called the University College of North Wales before it changed to the University of Wales Bangor in 1997. Currently, the institution has more than eleven thousand students. Further, the institution was ranked first for teaching in Wales in a 2014 survey. It is important to note that the institution has 23 academic schools that are grouped into six colleges. In particular, the institution has colleges such as the business college, law, arts and humanities, physical and applied sciences, and natural sciences. Ultimately, the institution was the institution is recognized as a leading research institution in the entire globe. The study was conducted within the institution because it was easier to collect data within the institution. Research Design A research design is defined as the chosen strategy for integrating different elements of a study with an aim of ensuring that the study addresses all research problems. Critical to the debate is the fact that the research questions above necessitated that the researcher combines two types of research designs. Specifically, the first three research questions required the research to describe the outcome of the study. This owes to the reality that the research questions intended to establish the presence of self and peer assessment in Bangor University. Analogously, the last research question required that the researcher explains the outcome of using peer and self-assessment within the institution. Consequently, the researcher used both the descriptive and explanatory research design to conduct the study. Ethical Issues Apparently, the study requires that study participants respond to questionnaires based on their classroom experiences. As a result, the study participants were required to participate in the study voluntarily. It is also important to highlight that the study participants were assured of the confidentiality of their information prior to conducting the study. Simply, put their personal information will not be shared with any third parties. Further, the study participants were assured that staff members within their universities would not have access to any information, which in turn ensured that responses collected from the study are unbiased. The study participants were also informed of the purpose of the study citing that the study was meant to improve the quality of education within their universities. Ultimately, the researcher sought permission from the before conducting the study. Study Tools It is important to note that the researcher used several tools to conduct the study. For instance, the researcher designed a questionnaire that was approved by the tutor before the researchers used it for data collection. The questionnaire was administered through e-mails and responses received via the same media. The researcher also designed a participant information sheet that was used to inform the study participants about their role and purpose of the study. In addition, the researcher used participants consent from to seek approval from the study participants about their voluntary participation in the study. Ultimately, the researcher used an ethical approval form to seek permission from the institution. Critical to the discussion is the fact that the questionnaire, the participants' information sheet, the ethical approval form, and the participants' consent form are attached in the appendix below. Data Analysis The researcher collected data from one hundred and eighty study participants. The researcher examined responses from all study participants and eliminated responses with missing data or faulty responses. The researcher went back to the field and collected additional responses to replace the eliminated ones. The data was entered in Microsoft Office Excel for cleaning before SPSS was used for data analysis. Specifically, descriptive statistics were used to explore the data before histograms were used to visualize the data. Further, bar graphs were used to visualize the data by categorizing responses from the study participants based on their colleges. The results obtained from the study were used to check whether peer and self-evaluation increased student's confidence about examining themselves. Results The results of the study population present in table 1 below indicates the absence of missing values and a population size of 180 study participants. Critical to the discussion is the fact that all students were from Bangor University because the frequency column indicates that the presence of a 180-population size. Further...