Responding to student feedback: Individualising teamwork scores based on peer assessment

Abstract

Teamwork assessments often result in a single final product, for which all team members receive a single mark regardless of their contribution to the team project. In order to respond to feedback from students in terms of fair marking of the teamwork assessment, we implemented peer assessment as a recommended pedagogical intervention to individualise team marks and prevent team members from taking advantage of free riding. Team marks were individualised proportional to the average peer assessment mark each student received from their peers in the team. We analysed course evaluation data before (n = 151) and after (n = 129) the implementation of the peer assessment process from students participating in Engineering Design courses. Analysing data in light of Social Interdependence Theory (Johnson & Johnson, 2009) showed that the peer assessment process improved the cooperation of the team members which enhanced the students’ teamwork experience and their engagement with the course. While only 24% of the students appreciated teamwork aspects of the course before the peer assessment, it increased to 34% post peer assessment. Furthermore, the implementation of the peer assessment process decreased complains about free riding from 26% to 7%.