A question of balance: using self and peer assessment effectively in teamwork

There is a growing emphasis that students should develop professional skills in the course of their education. These include team skills, problem solving skills, decisionmaking skills, communication skills, information literacy skills, time management skills and many others. To develop such skills, tertiary learners have to engage in tasks that are likely to help students reflect on their own success in completing tasks, and that of their peers. In the literature on learning and self-regulation, self and peer assessment are important strategies used to help develop these skills as well as helping to promote skill transfer to the workplace. On-line learning environments utilising asynchronous communication tools are ideal settings to promote the development and refinement of these professional skills. This case study profiles an on-line approach to developing professional project management skills for multimedia developers using self and peer assessment strategies to motivate student participation.