The methods and ways of assessing university teachers are changing within the framework of the European Higher Education Area . This common area seeks a more interdisciplinary vision of teaching.

In the field of traditional Business Sciences, a professional field in which a more transversal profile is increasingly required in managers, we are exploring new and different ways of training students and also of evaluating them. In this way, we try to adapt the teaching of business skills to the demands of the labor market.

Types of evaluation

In addition to traditional assessment, carried out solely by the subject’s teaching staff, three types of assessment can be highlighted: self-assessment, peer assessment and shared assessment between students and teaching staff.

Self-assessment involves each student judging their own learning based on evidence of their work and progress. In peer assessment, students assess their peers. Shared assessment is a combination of both, in which the assessment criteria are agreed upon between teacher and students and are reflected in a rubric , which is a list of aspects to be taken into account that add points towards the final grade.

Benefits of shared assessment

In a recent study, we investigated whether this last type of evaluation has effects on grades and on the degree of motivation and satisfaction, as well as on the acquisition of managerial skills.

To do this, we proposed a classroom task that consisted of creating and solving videos about practical cases inspired by real situations in the tourism sector. Each of the students had an assigned role in that situation, and after preparing the videos, they were projected in the classroom for the entire class.

After watching each of the situations, a debate was held to discuss whether the solution given in the video was the most appropriate, with the teacher as moderator. Once the debate was over, both students and teachers carried out the evaluation using the same rubric , previously agreed upon, in which a variety of factors were taken into account, from the use of language to the content of the video.

Specific situations in the tourism sector

Some of the videos the students made dealt with conflicts between members of a hotel department and the hotel manager; other cases concerned the management of customer complaints by department managers and the management of the tourism organisation. We also asked the students to play roles in situations that required managing emotions between managers and employees, in situations of conflict with employees and customers.

Best grades

The results of the study are very positive. With the application of the described methodology, there has been an interesting increase in grades. In addition, students are more motivated and satisfied with the subject, developing a critical spirit, and they perceive a clear improvement in their skills.

Some of the opinions we have collected from students are:

“It helped us a lot in understanding knowledge and acquiring skills.”

“It has been very interactive and positive for learning management skills, making it much easier to assimilate the course content.”

“It has helped me acquire very important skills, such as communicating with an audience.”

One of the key elements of success in achieving high-quality, effective and numerous student participation lies in the fact that the assessment method and grading criteria are clearly and publicly explained in the first class session. In addition, it is essential to insist on the need for participation to be constructive and respectful.

Possible uses in other disciplines

This shared assessment methodology can be applied to other disciplines. In any of them, it involves proposing practical cases adapted to the content of each subject, and encouraging students to adopt a different way of being in the classroom and approaching a subject.

Author Bio: Jose Maria Biedma-Ferrer is Professor of Business Organization at the University of Cadiz