Assessment Criteria Engagement and Peer-Feedback Quality in Higher Education: Implementing an Engagement Strategy in a Teacher Training Class

Evaluative judgement is a necessary ability for future primary teachers not only to reflect on their teaching practice but also because they will need to help their students to develop this ability. Higher feedback quality implies a better ability to critically assess a peer’s assignment; thus, it can be seen as an indicator of evaluative judgement. Engagement with assessment criteria could improve evaluative judgement and, thus, feedback quality. This paper aims to examine the effects of assessment criteria engagement strategies on pre-service teachers’ peer-feedback quality and development of evaluative judgement. Two groups of university students were compared. While in one of the experiences the teacher students were only informed about the criteria, in the other one, a specific task was planned to encourage students’ engagement with those criteria. The results, based on the analysis of the feedback content, suggest that engagement with assessment criteria positively contributes to higher peer-feedback quality and, thus, the development of evaluative judgement. Therefore, initial teacher education should provide opportunities for students to engage with assessment criteria.