Evaluating designs for web-assisted peer and group assessment

Activities, such as peer-group discussion and peer review, where students assist each other by commenting on and assessing each other's course work, are thought to be beneficial and effective in many aspects. Webbased technology has opened up new possibilities for peer- and groupassessment activities. Three main Web functions-e-resources, e-display, and e-communication-are discussed in this chapter in the context of six cases of teachers using peer and group assessment in a Hong Kong university. These cases use different levels of Web enhancement. Evaluation of the six cases involved student surveys, focus-group interviews, teacher surveys, analysis of forum postings, and counter site logs. The chapter provides an analysis of this evaluation data within the various designs of these courses. The data collected generally confirm that Web-enabled peerand group-assessment activities can produce positive results. The need for careful planning for these types of assessment activities is also clearly illustrated.