Students’ experience of making and receiving peer assessment: the effect of self-assessed knowledge and trust

Abstract

Making and receiving peer assessment may be a positive experience for some students while other students will not appreciate it. The present study contributes with insights into individual characteristics affecting how students will experience the practice of peer assessment. We further provide an analysis of the inherent tasks of making and receiving peer assessment separately. The study specifically focuses on the impact of self-assessed knowledge and trust on making and receiving peer assessment. A survey to 94 students at a Swedish business school generated data on making and receiving peer assessment before and after the assessment task, and on level of students’ self-assessed knowledge and trust in fellow classmates. The results pointed at higher expectations stemming from trusting students. They revealed that trusting individuals and individuals low on self-assessed knowledge reacted more negatively when receiving peer assessment than less trusting students with high self-assessed knowledge. The results of the study enable development of appropriate assessment tasks and hence an inclusive learning environment with heterogenous student groups.