What about utilizing rubrics for peer assessment of oral explanation skills work and what are the results?

Abstract

Teachers frequently mention the difficulty in assessing oral communication skills as an impediment to their instruction. Rubrics and peer assessment have been suggested as effective tools for overcoming this barrier. The combination of these two methods is also supposed to provide some benefits, but these appear to be highly context dependent. The purpose of this study is to see how the use of rubrics in peer assessment affects pupils' oral communication skills and to better understand how this use shapes peer interactions. A mixed method approach in a natural setting was utilized to attain that purpose. The sample consisted of 47 pupils aged between 10 and 12 years old, and who were divided, within the Arabic classrooms at Abu Dhabi International Private School (UAE), into three conditions: two in which those pupils used rubrics to provide feedback (either with strict and imposed instructions or with complete freedom of action), and one in which no grid was used. Whatever the condition, the quantitative results show a significant improvement in oral components. The qualitative results show that when pupils use the grid freely, they make better use of it. The imposed use of the grid, on the other hand, implies a higher number of feedbacks given, a more active posture of the evaluated pupils, and more group interactions. Furthermore, the findings emphasize the importance of training pupils to provide effective feedback.