Peer Assessment in Problem-based Learning: Students’ Views

The purpose of the present study was to describe the peer assessment experience from the viewpoint of the students themselves in a post-secondary educational institution which organizes its curriculum according to principles of problem-based learning. Here, assessing peers’ learning within the team is a continuous (i.e., daily) activity. To that end, a questionnaire containing statements inquiring about their experiences with peer assessment was administered to 897 first-year students. Analyses of the data collected demonstrate that students were generally positive about the peer assessment process. Descriptive statistics showed that students agreed that peer assessment helped their peers in their learning (69% agreed); they found the peer assessment process a valuable learning experience (43% agreed), and contended that they judged their peers in a manner which was honest and unbiased (55% agreed). The outcomes of a correlational analysis further suggest that those students, who agreed that the peer assessment enabled them to aid their peers in their learning, regarded the peer assessment exercise a valuable learning experience, and tend not to let interpersonal relationships, influenced their judgments of peers. Furthermore, students, who did not consider the peer assessment process as a valuable learning experience, also claimed to be less honest and biased when judging their peers.