Winning the crowd vote
Sheffield Hallam University
Research Forum
29
thApril 2002
Mark Pulman
Winning the crowd vote
Approaches to peer assessment in undergraduate
popular music performance
•Peer assessment of group musical performance
•Introducing peer assessment on BA (Popular Music
Studies) at Barnsley College
•The research project
Perceived benefits to students:
Improvements across a range of skills,e.g: transferable,listening,group-work
Feedback was speedy, effective and delivered over large groups of students
Learning behaviour was moderated and performance improved
Motivation and enthusiasm increased
Student ownership of the assessment process
Self-confidence, understanding, reflection and intellectual development
Perceived benefits to staff:
Increased opportunities to monitor student progress
Improvements to the marking systems
Improved relationships with students
• the character of the medium
• the desirability of using peer assessment to identify
individual
contributions to group work
• the desirability of involving students in the ownership of the
assessment process
•the potential for improving students’ learning behaviour
•the consistency of assessment agreements
•the evidence from other curriculum areas
•Peer assessment is best introduced at or near the beginning of the
students’ course, i.e., in their first year.
•Ensure that marks which may be awarded through peer
assessment are not given an exaggerated weighting within
the total marking scheme., particularly if the peer-assessed
element counts significantly towards a student’s final
degree classification.
•Inform students of the process
•Use a moderation procedure
•Introduce it gradually
Approaches to Peer Assessment
‘Inter-Peer’ Assessment
•students assess other students
‘Intra-Peer’ Assessment
Research Questions
•What is the desirability of identifying individual contributions
to collaborative group work?
•What changes in learning behaviour can be identified in
groups who are subject to peer group assessment?
2000-2001
Module %
Assignment summary
Assessment methods
Induction
Project
Advisory
mark given
A cover version of any
song
Tutor assessed
Themed set
25%
A 3-song themed and
segued set performed at a
local pub
Inter-peer assessment by BA3
Vocal
harmony
25%
The performance of a song
arranged for at least 3
vocalists
Tutor assessed
Intra-peer assessment within
each band
Busking
25%
Provide busking
entertainment for Barnsley
Spring Festival
Tutor assessed
Tribute
night
25%
Create a 3-song tribute act
to an artist or band
Inter-peer assessed by BA2
Intra-peer assessed within each
band
Entertainment value
Enthusiasm
Flow and continuity
Musicality
Presentation
Professionalism
Tightness
Audience communication
Assessment Criteria generated by BA1
Band Panel A Mark Tutor Mark Agreed Mark
1 14 13 14
2 9 11 9
3 8 10 8
4 15 14 15
5 5 7 5
6 8 10 8
Panel B Mark Tutor Mark Agreed Mark
7 12 12 12
8 10 9 10
9 8 10 8
10 11 11 11
11 15 15 15
12 10 9 10
Did everyone contribute equally? If so, each member of the group should be given 25% if the group is a four-piece (or 20%each if the group is a five-piece, etc) If two members of the group contributed significantly more than their colleagues, the distribution of percentages might reflect this in the following allocation: 15 +15 +35 +35.
Allocate a mark for each member of the group. Ensure that marks total 100%
Group members Assessment % 1(self)___________________________ ________ 2_______________________________ ________ 3_______________________________ _________
Group members Assessment % 4______________________________ ________ 5______________________________ ________ 6______________________________ ________
Explain and justify your mark for each band member:
1(self)___________________________________________________________________________________________ 2_______________________________________________________________________________________________ 3_______________________________________________________________________________________________ 4_______________________________________________________________________________________________ 5_______________________________________________________________________________________________ 6_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Band 1:
Overall group mark awarded by tutor = 5/16
A B C D Intra-Peer %
% expressed as a proportion of the group mark (5)
Individual student mark (rounded)
Student A 25 25 25 30 105 5.25 5
Student B 30 25 25 30 110 5.25 5
Student C 25 25 25 30 105 5.50 6
Student D 20 25 25 10 80 4.00 4
Totals 100 100 100 100
Intra-peer assessment marks for BA
Concerns about the effects of
intra-peer assessment upon a group….
•Ethics
•Confidentiality
Bands who distribute their individual assessments
equally tend to receive better band marks
Band Mark/ 16
Distribution Band Mark/ 16
Distribution
Band A 6 Equal Band I 15 Equal
Band B 9 Equal Band E 14 Equal
Band C 12 Unequal Band F 12 Unequal
Band K 15 Equal Band L 9 Unequal
Band G 9 Unequal Band H 11 Equal
Successful bands stick together!
Band Mark/ 16
Personnel changes
Band Mark/ 16
Personnel changes
Band 1 10 2 changes from
5
Band 7 10 1 change from 5
Band 2 10 All 5 unchanged Band 8 9 All 5 unchanged
Band 3 7 All 5 split up Band 9 4 1 change from 5
Band 4 9 All 5 unchanged Band 10 8 All 5 unchanged
Band 5 11 2 changes from 5 Band 11 7 3 changes from 5
The responses to peer assessment approaches in popular music group
performance has been positive
No resistance was to its introduction was encountered
There was a high consistency of agreement between student panel
marks and those of the tutors
The intra-peer assessment method was effective in terms of
identifying the individual contributions to the group and there was
evidence that group working skills improved during the duration of
the BA1 programme
Implementing intra-peer assessment can require extra care and
feedback can pose ethical problems
A few panel students questioned whether they should be awarding
marks as well as providing feedback
NAME:
Eric Clapton
Name the THREE most important Qualities that you all agree on as being the most
important to successful rehearsing of your group. Identify THREE more Personal
Strengths that are specific to you.Name also the opposite or negative side of each.
1
GROUP QUALITY
Attendance - (Lack of attendance)
2 GROUP QUALITY
Listening skills - (ignorance)
3 GROUP QUALITY
Enthusiasm - (apathy)
4 PERSONAL STRENGTH
Organisation - (disorganised)
5 PERSONAL STRENGTH
Social skills - (unsociable)
6 PERSONAL STRENGTH
Patience - (intolerance)
Peer panel students stated that acting as assessors has improved
their own approaches to performing
Peer panel students approached the assessments with
responsibility and integrity
More input into preparing panel students and equipping them
with the skills for assessing in advance of the performances is
required
Intra-peer assessment may require additional assessment criteria
that is generated by each particular student
Discussion between student bands and peer panels improves the
understanding of the assessment criteria
‘…we see the other side…it made me more aware of what
I am going to do for my performance…’
‘…it took a lot of intimidation out of the process…’
‘ …I just saw it as ….assessors are human…they are there
just to do the job….the performers get the criteria…the
assessors get the criteria ..so everyone should know what
they have to achieve…and sometimes I kind of lose sight
of that…’
Intra-peer Assessment Form
Rate
each
person
on a 1-4
scale
Group Qualities
Personal Strengths
A
tte
nd
an
ce
(la
ck
o
f)
L
ist
en
in
g S
kil
ls
(Ig
no
ra
nc
e)
E
nth
us
ia
sm
(a
pa
th
y)
O
rg
an
isa
tio
n
(d
iso
rg
an
ise
d)
S
oc
ia
l S
kil
ls
(u
ns
oc
ia
ble
)
P
ati
en
ce
(in
to
le
ra
nc
e)
L
ea
de
rs
hip
(s
hy
)
V
er
sa
til
ity
(n
ar
ro
w
-m
in
de
d)
E
xp
er
ie
nc
e
(in
ex
pe
rie
nc
e)
W
ill
in
gn
es
s t
o c
om
pr
om
ise
(u
nw
ill
in
gn
es
s)
TK
4
3
3
N/A
N/A
3
4
3
N/A
N/A
DN
2
3
2
N/A
1
N/A
2
N/A
N/A
3
HP
1
3
2
N/A
N/A
3
N/A
2
N/A
2
LA
3
3
3
4
3
N/A
N/A
N/A
3
N/A
End of presentation
