Kamratbedömning i naturvetenskap på mellanstadiet : formativ återkoppling genom gruppsamtal

Sammanfattning: Peer assessment may have a positive effect on student learning. In order to have these positive effect students have to be able to give feedback to their peer and also to receive feedback from their peer. The students also have to be able to use the given feedback. Using students as learning resources to each other is a key strategy within formative assessment. The feedback that is given can be directed at four different levels, task level, process level, self-regulation level and self-level. Using peers as learning resources, is one of the key strategies within formative assessment. Focus on formative assessment and the use of it, have increased within school. That, and the fact that there are not many studies that examines formative assessment with science content, are a part of the background to the conducted study. The overall purpose of the study was to contributed to the field concerning peer assessment in science with 11-year old students. The focus was partly how teachers implement peer assessment, but above all how students give feedback. In order to examine how and in what different levels student give each other feedback, students conducted peer assessment in small groups, after they had answered questions concerning science. Data collection was done in the following steps. At first, the teacher gave the students instructions about the tasks, the scoring rubric, how to assess and so on. While doing that, the teacher was observed and video recorded. Next step concerned the students. They answered the questions and then had peer assessment in small groups. This was also video recorded. Later on the students were interviewed. The students received different kinds of feedback, mostly at task level, from their peer. Some examples of feedback at other levels were also discovered. When students assessed each other’s answers, they looked at the amount of science concepts that were used in their peer’s answers. The results suggest that students need to practice peer assessment, how to give useful feedback and that the teacher need to be aware of that given instruction may turn out differently from what is expected. The results also show that students believe that peer assessment is useful and that feedback is given. This was contradictory from what was seen in some of the observations of the peer assessment. Conclusions are for example that students need both assessment skills and scientific knowledge.