DCAD Digital Help Guides

To create a peerScholar Group activity:

In Learn Ultra

1. In your Learn Ultra course, navigate to the place you wish to create the activity/assessment, this may be in a folder or learning module such as Assessment. Select the + icon, and from the pop-up select Content Market.
   
2. Select the + icon at the bottom right corner of the peerScholar tile to create a link to peerScholar activity in your Learn Ultra Course.
   
3. Change the name of the activity using the More options (the ellipses/three dots on the right). Select Edit to launch the pane and provide an appropriate name for the activity and add a description.
4. At this point, you also have the option to add the task as a graded item in Learn Ultra Gradebook. Tick the box next to Create gradebook entry for this item if you wish you to do so. With this option enabled, grades from peerScholar can be synced to Learn Ultra Gradebook. To learn more, see the guide on Sync peerScholar grades to Blackboard Gradebook.

Select Activity Type

1. Select the peerScholar link to launch and set up the activity and from the Add Activity pop up panel, select the third option – Teamwork & Group Work.
   
   
2. Select one of the group work categories – Group Assess or Groups Individual Assess. In this example, the first option Group Assess has been selected, continue and select Create Activity.
   
3. Next, you will see a progress prompt with the different stages in this activity set up.
   
   This guide covers the first step – Build Activity. The next stages of the set up are covered in the following guides:
   • setting up and managing groups;
   • scheduling an activity and;
   • customising grades (optional)
     
4. Select Let’s Go to start.
   

Build Activity

1. Expand the Group Work (Group Assess) section, enter a short description and tags if required. If you decide to change the activity from group assess to individual assess, you can do so here, under Configuration.
2. This page also provides options and settings for all three phases of the activity including group member evaluation – more on this later.

Create Phase

1. Under the Create section, add instructions in the text editor. If required you can attach (using the + Attachments button) any supporting documents for the assignment, e.g. upload you proforma/assignment/poster as a PDF or Word document.
   
2. The Advanced Settings (the cog icon) on the pane far right of the page allows you to further customise the setting for your activity. See the peerScholar Advance settings guidance for details.

Assess Phase

1. In the Assess section, use the drop down to select the number of groups each groups or individual students will need peer review.
2. Here you can build a custom rubrics in the form of a matrix or provide a set questions to guide the students through the peer assessment process. Two examples have been included by default. You can amend this by removing and/or adding additional questions using the + Add Group Assessment option at the bottom.
   
   
3. There’s a range of question types in peerScholar – multiple choice, drop down, checkbox, rubric matrix, point, star, scale rating and open comment.
   
   
4. The self-assessment option is enabled by default. If left enabled, this would require students to assess their own submission and complete rubrics and/or any guided question set using the + Add Self-Assessment option.
   
5. Further down the page, you can amend or add to the default text and video that has been pre-populated in the Assess Instructions. Select the the pencil icon next to the title to edit the instructions.
   
   

Reflect Phase

1. The final section, Reflect provides options for you to enable students to complete the feedback loop within peerScholar by asking individual students or groups to respond to/assess their peers’ feedback and/or require students to revise and resubmit their work after viewing the peer’s feedback.
   
   This phase is optional. If you wish to skip this phase partly or entirely, use the toggle next to Assess the Feedback and Revise and Resubmit options to disable the features.
   
2. If using, you can create a custom rubric and guided question using the + Add Group Reflection icon and amend the Reflect Instructions as required.

Group Member Assessment

Since this is a group task, in addition to the three phases, peerScholar offers group member assessment. This exercise enables students to assess their team members’ contribution and performance (as well as their own) during the group task. This additional step can be used as a measure to:

• create a sense of accountability amongst students to perhaps reduce free riding and social loafing during group tasks and;
• elevate student concerns around fairness in assessment and provide a sense of assurance that student contributions are acknowledged and accounted for.

This exercise is optional. If you wish to skip this section, disable/toggle off the Assess Group Members’ Contributions option.

1. If using, (from the drop down menu) select the phase of the peer review activity that you would like to release the group member evaluation and select/deselect associated features for the task.
   
   Similar to the Assess and Reflect phases you will need to add a rubric and/or guided questions to assist students in the feedback process. Use the + Add Group Member Assessment to add your questions.
   
   
2. Select Continue for the next stage of the set up process Manage Groups – follow the guide on Setting up and managing groups in peerScholar or select Save and Close button at the top right of the page if you wish to save and resume the set up later from the peerScholar Dashboard.