Scale-Referenced, Summative Peer Assessment in Undergraduate Interpreter Training: Self-Reflection from an Action Researcher

This article reports on a first-person action research study in which the teacher-researcher reflects in/on his three-cycle (three-semester) project on summative peer assessment undertaken by undergraduate students using a rating scale. The settings for each cycle were two successive interpreting classes taught by the researcher using the same teaching materials. In each cycle, the participants (students in the two intact classes) were provided with training opportunities for 4 weeks running before the midterm examination. Their examination performances were assessed "post situ" by either classmates or students in the other class. The way in which the project was implemented in each cycle was changed according to the researcher's analysis of data collected. Data collection methods included reflective journals, interviews, rating sheets, end-of-semester questionnaires, and a validation meeting. This study demonstrates the credibility, benefits, and procedural difficulties of scale-referenced, summative peer assessment in a local interpreter training situation.