Aleix Barrera-Corominas

Written peer-feedback to enhance students’ current and future learning

Spanish universities are engaged in the implementation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). This process implies the use of the most effective instructional designs and methodologies in order to achieve deep learning, increase student involvement in their own development, and professional and personal-greater autonomy in the construction of knowledge. Peer-feedback is an effective strategy to reach such requirements. The study aimed to analyze the type of feedback students provide in peer-assessment in group work projects and to investigate students’ perception towards peer-assessment for the improvement of the learning process.The methods were mixed. A semantic analysis of the type of feedback was conducted. A total of 637 feedback units were analysed according to the guidelines developed in the project. In addition, questionnaires to students and teachers involved in the experience were administrated.The results demonstrate that the great majority of feedback offered by students was related to task development, followed by feedback regarding the motivational aspects of the process and finally the structural and formal aspects of the writing. At the end of the process, both teachers and students declared that the feedback received helped them to better develop the task and support them in future learning.

Communities of Practice, Informal Learning and Impact in the Workplace: Catalan Public Administration Networks

In recent years, after confirming that knowledge and training are valuable assets of organizations, different models and strategies that permit professionals to exchange and create knowledge with the aim of improving their abilities and work, are being promoted and established. This article describes two implementation experiences of communities of practice (CoPs) in the Catalan public Administration, pursuing a double aim. On the one hand, identifying in which way CoPs contribute to knowledge acquisition in the professionals involved; and, on the other hand, going into detail about the impact of the knowledge generated on the workplace. Results stem from the application of a 53-item selfadministered questionnaire to 175 participants, 40 in-depth interviews, 2 discussion groups and documentary analysis. Results show that CoPs participants establish a professional proximity by conversing and solving, in a consensus, shared work-related difficulties. CoPs make it easier to work on topics linked to the course of their work practice and learn in an informal way. Also, matters are clarified so that there may be greater exploitation and impact of the knowledge acquired on the workplace.