How Peer Assessment and Peer Learning Might Operate In Formal and Informal Learning Contexts of A Secondary School

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TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER 1: PEER ASSESMENT AND LEARNING3

Earlier Peer-Mediated Programs4

Pals-R In Grades 2-69

Pals-M In Grades 2-411

Students Non-Responsive To Pals14

CHAPTER 2: INFORMAL AND FORMAL LEARNING ISSUES IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL17

Non-Formal Education And Informal Learning21

CHAPTER 3: MOTIVATIONAL ISSUES IN PEER ASSESSMENT AND PEER LEARNING AND MOTIVATION THEORIES LINKED TO PEER LEARNING26

Historical Background26

Core Theoretical Assumptions30

Human Agency30

Modeling31

Learning and Performance33

Self-Efficacy and Collective Efficacy33

Developmental Status of the Learner34

Fortuitous Factors in Life35

Unit of Analysis for Understanding Human Behavior and Thought36

Goals and Expectations36

CHAPTER 4: OTHER ASPECTS OF PEER LEARNING WITH THEORIES LINKED TO SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION38

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUTION42

REFERENCES44

CHAPTER 1: PEER ASSESMENT AND LEARNING

Academic diversity is a universal phenomenon. In every classroom - in schools rich and poor, urban and rural - some children excel while others struggle; some bide their time waiting for the rest of the class to catch up, while others never get enough instruction or practice (Greenwood, Carta, & Maheady, 1991). This is so in part because students must share the attention and efforts of one teacher. Nevertheless, it is possible to better meet the diverse needs of students by using activities such as peer-mediation, which involves students working together on structured tasks.

Teachers who use peer-mediated activities typically capitalize on classroom heterogeneity by requiring their more academically accomplished students to help their less accomplished students. Peer-mediated activities were first implemented at the turn of the nineteenth century (Topping, 1988). Their continuing relevance probably reflects the fact that classrooms have always been heterogeneous, at least since the birth of public schools (D. Fuchs, Fuchs, Mathes, & Simmons, 1997). Worldwide demographic trends and pressure for the inclusion of students with disabilities will certainly not change this.

Originally developed by practitioners, peer-mediated activities gradually attracted researchers' attention and this latter group altered them according to their interests. Peer-mediated activity came to include elements inspired by cognitive theories (Palincsar & Brown, 1984) and by the highly structured Direct Instruction approach (Carnine, Silbert, Kame'enui, & Tarver, 2004). Dissemination of Lev Vygotsky's (1978) writings also contributed to a growing interest in peer-mediated instruction. According to the Russian developmental psychologist, mastery of complex skills and development of underlying cognitive process occur as a result of repeated interactions between novice and expert. The expert initially compensates for the novice's weaknesses by accomplishing parts of a task, but gradually pushes the novice toward more autonomous and mature performance through a series of 'scaffolded' interactions. Vygotsky recognized that the expert could be either an adult or a more accomplished peer.

In this chapter, we review the strengths and limitations of several peer-mediated programs and describe how a more recent approach, Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS), circumvents some of the limitations associated with prior work. Examples of PALS activities in reading and mathematics are described. Research on PALS indicates positive effects on the achievement of students of different ability levels. Characteristics of students who do not respond to PALS are also examined.

Earlier Peer-Mediated Programs

In the late 1970s, different teams of researchers became interested ...