Our November theme is assessing group projects, which can be challenging no matter how complex the project. Do you assign a group grade for the final product? Assign individual students a grade based on how their peers say they contributed to the project? The decision can be fraught, and that grading can be mysterious (and frustrating) to students.

So our worksheet this month is a peer assessment framework I’ve been using for years in all of my classes that have any kind of group projects. I borrowed the design from a colleague in psychology who does a lot of work in leadership and have adapted it along the way based on different classes and students. This particular version was for a publishing project course, though many of the points work well for any project, allowing you to then add particular points that best fit your  learning goals.

What I like best about this rubric is that it gives students concrete descriptions of how to assess their peers – and themselves – in two areas: product and process. So not only do they get to evaluate how each team member contributed to the final product, but they also get to discuss each person’s role in the team’s success.

The rubric also includes a section for students to offer feedback on how to improve to their peers, which works very well, especially if it’s a longer project. Students have to think about how to give feedback constructively in ways they wouldn’t if they were just sending the feedback to me. I take the scores and feedback and summarize it for each of them while also offering my assessment as well.

Check back next week on the blog next week – I’ll post a video of me talking through how I use the rubric and how I distribute group and individual grades for team projects. I’ll also share a few stories from my students as well.

If you like the worksheet, tweet me at @RPR_Agile with the hashtag #Worksheet Wednesday!