There are many online courses where collaboration is the key to success. The collaborative process helps students with socialization skills and provides a learning environment in which students build off one another. Although it has been made clear that learning through collaboration in a distance learning course such as this one is imperitive to student success, it is not quite as clear if the assessment process should be a collaborative effort.

According to Oosterhof, Conrad, and Ely (2008), peer grading and involving peers in the reflective process allows for the students to take ownership of their work. It is stated in Oosterhof et al. (2008) as well that many people frown upon having their peers evaluate them. As you reflect upon your discussion posts and your time spent working with groups, ponder how you feel about your peers grading your work. There may be times in your past that your instructor has given you an evaluation form to complete for your peers. Did you feel comfortable completing this task? Did you feel your peers would complete your evaluation form in a fair manner? Why or why not?

By Friday: Post your answer to the discussion questions, building on your own personal experiences. Be sure to find at least one outside source and reference all sources in APA format.

By Sunday: Respond to at least two of your peers' posts. You may elaborate on their response, ask them a question in regards to their response, or explain how your response was similar to theirs. Be sure to reference all sources in APA format.

Discussion Rubric

WALDEN/Course 10/Discussion Post Rubric.htm


Resources
Oosterhof, A., Conrad, R.-M., & Ely, D. P. (2008). Assessing learners online. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.