Abstract
Writing and assessing arguments are important skills and there is evidence that using rubrics to assess the arguments of others can help students write better arguments. Thus, this study investigated whether students were able to write better arguments after using rubrics to assess the written arguments by peers. Students in 4 secondary 4 classes at a publicly funded Hong Kong high school used an online assessment system to assess the arguments of peers for one year. Students first used a rubric to assess arguments along four dimensions: claims, evidence, reasoning, and application of knowledge. Then they compared their assessments with assessments by their teachers using the same rubrics. Data included student-teacher agreements on rubric dimensions, students’ evaluation comments, and their perceptions of the assessment activity. Results indicated that the quality of students’ written arguments could be predicted based on the number of student-teacher agreements on the rubrics dimension of evidence and on the number of students comments identifying problems and reflecting on assessment. This study shows that providing students with rubrics for assessing the written arguments of peers can lead them to write better arguments.
Highlights
Being able to write and to assess arguments competently is important in school for constructing and evaluating knowledge and in daily life for exercising the rights and duties of responsible citizenship
An independent sample t test showed no significant difference between male and female participants on final exam scores, number of comments, and teacher-student assessment agreements
Students with high assessment agreement for evidence did better in the final exam demonstrating that being able to competently assess the quality evidence in the arguments of peers was important in determining their ability to write good arguments
Summary
Being able to write and to assess arguments competently is important in school for constructing and evaluating knowledge and in daily life for exercising the rights and duties of responsible citizenship. It is recognized that the skills involved in effective argumentation ought to be taught in school (Driver, Newton, & Osborne, 2000; Nussbaum, 2002) they rarely are at least in any systematic way. This is in part because teachers have seldom been taught to do so. Few studies have focused on the use of rubrics in assessing arguments
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
