IN-PERSON MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY. SECTION B

Abstract

The training of instructors for the Norwegian police is conducted as a structured continuing education programme at the Norwegian Police University College. The programme consists of three or four sessions, each lasting fourteen days, and integrates both theoretical and practical learning activities. Throughout the programme, students are required to plan, deliver, and reflect on four teaching sessions in which fellow students participate as learners. These sessions are central to their professional development, offering opportunities to develop and refine instructional practices within supportive, academically grounded environments. Each session also includes a peer assessment component, where students provide each other with constructive feedback aimed at strengthening the didactic quality of the teaching. Within this framework, we sought to examine how peer assessment can be further developed as a pedagogical tool, particularly regarding the written component of the teaching plan. This led us to the research question: What is it like to hear someone else give feedback on an assignment that you have also assessed? The question reflects the notion that peer assessment involves not only evaluating others’ work but also revisiting and challenging one’s own assessments through exposure to different perspectives. During the third teaching plan, students were asked to write reflection notes on their experiences of giving and receiving feedback. Our analysis is based on 30 anonymised reflections that describe how students perceived hearing others’ evaluations of assignments they had previously assessed. A consistent finding was that students experienced this as both positive and educational. Listening to others comment on the same assignment fostered productive professional discussions, and many reported gaining new insights. Several also noted increased awareness of their own assessment criteria and a deeper understanding of what effective lesson planning requires.