Students are asked to work in groups to prepare two case studies as part of their assessment in their first year Professional Studies unit. For each case study they prepare a short written paper and give an oral presentation to the class.

In a class of 60 students, there would normally be 12 groups of 5 students. The students are mixed up and allocated to groups by the tutor in order to reflect the lack of choice of workmates in groups in the workforce. There is usually some student attrition during the semester but a minimum of three students per group is maintained in order to prevent any students being overloaded with work.

Case study 1
The first case study is designed to teach students how to access high quality information in the university library. Students learn about the different types of resources i.e. journals vs. Internet articles, primary vs. secondary literature, and their relative usefulness in the field of marine biology. They also learn about the ways that scientists operate using conferences and journal publications and they meet with guest lecturers who work in the field of marine biology. Students are assessed on their ability to find, use and reference correctly from a wide range of sources.

Case study 2
The second case study adapts the research skills acquired in the first case study and uses them to in a political scenario. The group is given a choice of eight topical issues, for example where to site a marine park or how to address the problem of shark attacks. Students are asked to imagine that they have to provide information, backed by scientific evidence, for a government minister who must respond to a question about the topic that has been asked in parliament. Students are given about three weeks to collect and distill the necessary information and develop a list of possible actions and their likely consequences.

Self and peer assessment of contribution
When the case study tasks are completed every student reflects on, and provides a mark for, the contribution of every other student including himself/herself. The group is initially awarded the same mark for the case study but each individual's mark may be adjusted up or down slightly according to the contribution mark given by self and fellow group members. The contribution mark does not have a large effect on the final mark but it can influence it slightly, perhaps causing an individual to cross a boundary between, say, a pass or a credit. The contribution mark may or may not confirm the impression of the contribution of individuals that the staff member associated with the group has formed.

The peer and self assessment process can be confronting for a lot of students; both for those who believe they have contributed a great deal and would like a high weighting to reward their efforts, and for those that have been cutting corners. The unit coordinators think that some practice at peer assessment is valuable for students because, in their future jobs, they will be required to work in teams, when it will be important for them to contribute effectively and to seek feedback on their own performance from their fellow team members.

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