Staff and peer-group assessment of oral communication skills

ABSTRACT During student presentations the oral communication skills of final year BSc pharmacology students were assessed by their peer group and by a group of academic staff. That there was agreement between staff and peers about the absolute and relative quality achieved in the presentations is indicated by the significant positive correlation between the two sets of marks awarded to individuals and the agreement about which presenters constituted the top and bottom quartiles of the mark list. The standard of presentation achieved by a student was not related to the marks given by that student (i.e. assessment was independent of a student's own communication skills). There was a significant correlation between students' communication skills and their performance in written tests but a number of individuals exhibited marked differences in these two abilities.