This study describes how the Mathematics and Science Tutors worked collaboratively to support the Mathematics and Science Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) students at the University of Leicester leading to a higher proportion gaining Masters level credits, with particular emphasis on the effectiveness of critical partnership groups following an action research model based on teacher inquiry and knowledge-building cycles to promote valued student outcomes (Timperley et al, 2007).

During the Bologna Declaration on the European space for Higher Education (Bologna Agreement, 1999) 29 countries pledged to reform their Higher Education systems in a convergent way. They concluded that there should be a system essentially based on two main cycles, undergraduate and graduate. The second cycle should lead to the Masters and/or Doctorate degree as in many European countries. Subsequently, the National Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ) stated in 2001 that any postgraduate award must show evidence of study at Masters level (revised framework: FHEQ, 2008). This was followed by the Labour government publishing the intention for teaching to become a Masters profession and changes in the PGCE course which now must show evidence of study at Masters Level (Jackson and Eady, 2008).

The first part of this collaborative study undertaken in 2008-2009 focused on the peer assessment of a 500 word synopsis in preparation for writing their second assignment (Tas and Forsythe, 2010). The second part in 2009-2010 focused on how the collaboration between the tutors had been effective and should be developed, and concluded with the notion that students would benefit from developing better skills for self-assessment and peer-assessment to make learning conversations more productive (Forsythe and Tas, 2011).

In the third part of this study we report on the effectiveness of setting up critical partnership groups to address some of the issues reported before. Student’s feedback on what they expected from working in these groups will be compared to their experience.

Parsons and Stephenson (2005) defined Critical Partnerships as those where constructive feedback is given. Positive features can be identified and also potential for improvement. They argue that they can also help students to engage in the process of reflection on their practice at a much higher cognitive level (Parsons and Stephenson, 2005).  Elwood and Klenowski (2002) state that to improve learning and indeed teaching, the student needs to be at the centre of the assessment process. This makes the student more responsible for their own learning process and active participants in instructional activities (Sluisjmans et al, 2003).  Better progress is achieved where the student who is acting as assessor and student being assessed are able to engage in a learning conversation where both are active participants, this subsequently leads to better progress (Minjeong, 2009).

This study focuses on:

1.      Students’ attitudes to peer support before and after forming Critical Partnership groups;

2.       Students’ views on benefits and challenges of peer assessment;

3.       Students’ views on benefits and challenges of peer support

Bologna Declaration(1999) [Online]. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/educ/bologna/bologna.pdf (Accessed 01/02/2012) Elwood, J. and Klenowski, V. (2002) Creating Communities of Shared Practice: the Challenges of Assessment Use in Learning and Teaching, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 27:3 FHEQ (2008) The framework for higher education qualifications in England,Wales and Northern Ireland [Online]. Available at:http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Documents/FHEQ08.pdf (Accessed 01/02/2012) Forsythe, S., and Tas, M. (2010) A collaborative action research project to support Mathematics and Science PGCE students with Masters level writing. TEAN 1 (2) Jackson, A., and Eady, S. (2008) Perceptions of Masters Level PGCE, Paper presented at BERA, Edinburgh, 3-6 September Parsons , M. and Stephenson, M (2005) Developing Reflective Practice in Student Teachers: Collaboration and Critical Partnerships. Teachers and Teaching, 11:1, 95-116 Minjeong, K. (2009) The Impact of an Elaborated Assessee’s Role in Peer Assessment, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 34 (1): 105-114 Tas M., and Forsythe, S. (2010) Strategies for supporting students to achieve Masters level on the secondary PGCE course. TEAN 1 (1) Timperley, H., Wilson, A., Barrar, H., and Fung, I. (2007) Teacher Professional Learning and Development: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration (BES). Education Counts, New Zealand Sluijsmans, J., Brand-Gruwl. S., van Merriemboer, J.G., and Bastiaens, T.J. (2003) The Training of Peer assessment Skills to Promote the Development of Reflection Skills in Teacher education, Studies in Educational Evaluation, 29: 23-42 Thomas, G. (2009) How to do your research project: a guide for students in education and applied social sciences. Sage publications