An Analysis of Self-, Peer-, and Teacher- Assessment within the Scope of Classroom Teaching Activities

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between self-, peer- and teacher- assessment to evaluate preservice science teachers’classroom teaching activities. A mixed method was employed. The sample consisted of 55 senior students (29 women, 26 men) from the science teaching program of a public university in Turkey. Quantitative data were collected using a classroom observation form, which was the Reformed Teaching Observation Practice (RTOP), while qualitative data were collected using observation notes. The study was conducted within the scope ofthe course “applied teaching” for three weeks under the scope of three topics; global warming(GW), acid rain (AR), and ozone depletion (OD). Each participant attended nine assessment processes with two peers for the three topics. Quantitative results did not show a correlation between self- and teacher-assessment on the three topics. There was no correlation between GW self-assessment and GW peer-assessment and between AR peer-assessment and OD peer-assessment. However, there was a correlation between OD and AR self- and peer-assessment. There was a correlation between peer-assessment and teacher-assessment on neither of the three topics. Qualitative results showed that participants with high RTOP scores in peer-assessment were more likely to make quite superficial qualitative assessments, and briefly describe the teaching process and positively assess it. In self-assessment, participants not only gave themselves high scores but also positively described the teaching process. In teacher-assessment, quantitative and qualitative assessment was consistent.