Learning mathematics through peer assessment: “How can we assess something that we ourselves don’t know how to solve?”

The study explores the opportunities for learning mathematics when students engage in peer assessment. This paper is the result of a study that took place at the Center for Pre-University Education of the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology. The participants were enrolled in a single-semester preparatory course in mathematics to reach level-five-matriculation proficiency. Data was collected using video cameras and audio recorders, among other methods, to capture students’ interpretation of diverse mathematical content and ideas. I identified important thinking skills that included, but were not limited to, deciphering solutions, comparing ways of tackling problems, and differentiating criteria that were occasioned by direct student-student interaction during which they continually clarified their mathematical insights, ideas, queries, and hunches. The contribution of this particular study lies not only in the light it sheds on the benefits of peer assessment for learning purposes but also on identifying occasioned moments of learning mathematics as they occurred in such contexts.