Enhancing students’ engagement and learning through peer assessment in group projects

Abstract

Aiming at enhancing students’ active engagement and deep learning in a large-class setting, this study introduced group projects along with peer assessment among tertiary-level students in different cohorts. Following the designated pedagogical approach and assessment criteria illustrated by the course instructor, students’ learning experiences related to project preparation and peer assessment in a compulsory course were observed for three consecutive years. Students expressed a high degree of agreement that the flexibility allowed in selecting group members and project contents promoted their interests in conducting projects on diverse environmental issues beyond the lecture materials and helped them develop teamwork and interpersonal skills. Regarding peer assessment, the observed resemblance among teacher-assessed and peer-assessed grading in most cases indicated that students could successfully develop critical evaluation skills required for the peer assessment. Moreover, students provided positive feedback on the peer assessment method and responded that this exercise triggered reflection on their own work, which could be useful for enhancing their deep learning and understanding of the subject. However, unsurprisingly, some students requested more guidance and directions given by the course instructor regarding project selection and grading criteria ahead of the peer assessment. It is also interesting to note that students’ comments varied regarding the weighted fractions of project marks allocated to the teacher (50%) and peer (50%). Some students underscored that the teacher’s grading should have a higher weighting than those of peer students, which may improve the fairness in marking. These various comments could assist us to better implement peer assessment in other courses. In all, given the students' positive learning attitudes and improved evaluation skills, peer assessment of group projects can be considered as a comprehensive approach for engaging students in deep learning experiences and higher-level understanding of broader knowledge. Keywords: Tertiary Education, summative assessment, teaching Pedagogy, collaborative learning, reflection/evaluation, deep Learning.