Collaborative group working is considered an important part of the Postgraduate Diploma of Education (PGDE) at The School of Education in The University of Glasgow, as student teachers are expected to plan and organise this type of learning in their own classrooms, during school placements and once qualified (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2009.). In an earlier study, when postgraduate student teachers were asked their views regarding the completion of collaborative group tasks, issues were identified surrounding student accountability (Crichton & Templeton, in press). The significance of student accountability in successful collaborative activities has been identified in a number of studies (Willmot & Crawford 2004,Matteson et al. 2001, Brush & Saye 2000, Huba & Freed 2000).

The research which informs this paper took place in order to explore whether self and peer assessment in collaborative learning tasks would increase student accountability and ownership of their learning. A class of PGDE student teachers was involved in discussion with tutors to draw up criteria which were then used to measure their own and others’ contributions to the successful completion of collaborative group tasks for a semester. The previous semester, there had been no student assessment of the tasks or the way they had been completed. Students used a ‘comment bank', which they had devised in negotiation with their tutors, to describe their own and other group members’ participation during the tasks.  It has been suggested that student involvement in producing criteria for assessment can improve learning (Falchikov 2004, Rust et al., 2003). It is possible that the students derived a better learning experience; however, the main focus of this research was whether students would engage more in the tasks, knowing that they would have to assess their contribution to a successful outcome and be assessed by their peers, using the criteria to measure Falchikov’s ‘peer assessment of process’ rather than ‘peer assessment of product’(1995). Recent studies at other universities indicate that students prefer an element of self and peer assessment and feel comfortable assessing their own and others’ performance (Strachan & Wilcox 1998, Pond et al. 2007). As well as investigating whether students valued the practice of self and peer assessment and whether they felt that their own and others’ active participation in the tasks had increased as a result of implementing self and peer assessment, the study also aimed to find out whether students felt prepared to employ similar practices in the classroom.

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