Improving geography essay writing using innovative assessment

This article reports a project which aims to improve the essay writing of undergraduates on a first-year geography course. The intention was that through self-and peer assessment as well as tutor assessment of essays, students would learn about assessment criteria and ways of meeting these. As these techniques are unfamiliar to most students, and past experience shows that they sometimes view them negatively, it was important to stress the value of the project to their learning, to prepare them in a workshop, and to supervise and regulate the assessment process carefully. The project is evaluated from student feedback and suggestions are made for implementation of similar projects in the future.