The Effect of Peer Assessment on Group Work Productivity in Science of Grade Six Learners in Tayuman Elementary School

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Peer assessment can be an essential tool for facilitating the learning process. Studying its effects on the productivity of learners inside the classroom can be crucial for adding evidence on its helpfulness on the mentioned aspect. Also, productivity is a vital aspect of the learning environment as it is connected to how much output a learner can produce in a specific period. This study is limited to grade six pupils in Tayuman Elementary School, the school year 2017-2018. Grade six learners included in the two sections were randomly assigned into two classes, A and B.

The pupils within each group in the class with peer assessment were the ones who gave peer feedback to their co-members.

METHODS

The subjects of the study were grade six pupils in two sections. Specifically, 45 pupils per section for a total of 90 pupils were randomly selected for this study. They were randomly assigned into two batch, class A comprised of 15 groups consisting of 3 pupils was provided with a peer assessment intervention(experimental group); and the class B comprised of 15 groups consisting of 3 pupils each was not provided with the intervention (controlled group). The researchers used a tally and frequency table as the instrument to determine the effect of peer assessment on group work productivity of grade six pupils. The table was divided into the groups of subjects which accomplished the tasks provided (productive) and the groups of subjects who were not able to finish the tasks (unproductive).

RESULTS

To conclude, peer assessment resulted in an increased in group work productivity of Grade Six learners who participated in the facilitated activity. Clearly, with the given results of the study, peer assessment can lead the majority of the participants to be more active in giving their contribution and helping their group mates in finishing collaborative work. Furthermore, the findings of the research further supported the study by Cavas et. al. (2010) which emphasized that peer assessment makes students feel more motived and be more involved in contributing to tasks.

DISCUSSIONS

The learners involved in the activity expressed that peer assessment helped in accomplishing the tasks. Furthermore, compared to their past activities without peer assessment, the pupils also stated that they their effort increased and were more motivated in terms of their contributions in the collaborative work because their groupmates were assessing their individual performance.