Peer-Assessment to Improve Speaking Skills in a Public Higher Education Institute

Abstract

The results of this study provide supporting evidence that applying peer assessment improves performance in speaking skills in students from a technology dual degree in Port Logistics. There are two key findings in this research. First, to apply this kind of innovation, it is necessary to introduce participants to techniques that help them understand and correctly use peer assessment because they are not teachers, and they need this guide in the process. Second, the results did show that there was an improvement between the pre-test and the posttest, which is considered significant. The difference between means in the pre-test and posttest were almost 50% which validates the improvement. Among the primary advantages of using peer assessment, this researcher discovered that it is a strategy that aids in classroom management because in a traditional classroom, only a small group of students participate. Nevertheless, by applying peer assessment, all students are involved in the process. Although it could be argued that this activity cannot be replicated in larger classes, it seems plausible to do it with the correct use of technology in the classroom, like videos or voice notes. Without these technological tools, due to the small number of hours of the subject, achieving this positive result would not be possible