Peer assessment in Moodle - Leona Norris, Alison Sands, Helen Young, Caroline McNabb Presented at Moodlemoot Edinburgh 2014 www.moodlemoot.ie/

1. Academic excellence for business and the professions
Peer Assessment
Leona Norris
Senior Educational Technologist,
Learning Enhancement and Development (LEaD)

2. Group work can be one of the most rewarding, but also most problematic tools for teaching and learning; it
demands substantial organisational resource and is often cited by students as a point of difficulty with the risk of
collaborators being slow, difficult or even entirely absent. Mechanisms such as peer assessment, where students
rate each other on their contribution to group work, are therefore essential for students to truly benefit and
ensure that group work and marks are fair and transparent. In this way students get real value out of group work,
reflecting on their contribution and ways of working together, and staff are able to get a real sense of the groups'
dynamics and their impact on work submitted.
For Cass Business School, previous peer assessment support meant using a variety of complicated and time
consuming processes cobbled together, with room for error and very demanding in terms of resource. With the
decommissioning of one of the key systems used, finding a new way to run this part of group work became
essential, and the Peer assessment tool was therefore developed as a plugin for Moodle at the School’s request.
We have started using this tool already, but feel that this newly developed functionality could provide substantial
benefits to other institutions, giving students a more positive experience of group work without being
prohibitively difficult in terms of administration. We therefore look forward to further review and evaluation to
feed into the next round of improvements, as well as seeking to share the tool itself and any other experiences.

3. The Peer Assessment activity is a group assignment submission combined with peer grading.
For this activity, peer grading refers to the ability for students to assess the performance/contribution of their
peer group, and if enabled, themselves, in relation to a group task. The group task is the file(s) submission
component of the activity. The peer grading consists of a grade out of five and written comments on each
student's performance.
Final overall grades for each individual student are then calculated from the differential of their individual and
group peer grade averages, multiplied by five, and then added to or subtracted from the overall group
submission grade (out of 100).

4. • Working as part of a team is an integral part of the role for many careers
• Learning skills to support successful team working and build successful interpersonal
relationships important part
• Peer review strategy for some modules across the Specialist Masters programme
• Students are asked to grade their fellow group members’ and comment on their performance
• Warned to think carefully about the grades and comments given - ensure they are truthful and
constructive - reviewed by lecturers
• In the student's interest to engage fully in all group work
• If don’t contribute effectively your peers may mark you down - potential to significantly affect
your coursework grade
• Complete lack of attendance or input could lead to failure in coursework component - need to
retake
• To ensure student’s feel comfortable grading honestly, peer assessment grades are confidential
- unless the students wish to discuss amongst themselves

5. 1
Students
2
Academic
3
Peer Assessment
Activity
How it works

6. Student Group
Group
coursework
Student A
Peer grades &
comments
Student B
Peer grades &
comments
Student C
Peer grades &
comments
Student D
Peer grades &
comments
Students
DEADLINE
1. Student submission

7. Student submission
1. Submit assignment
(group submission)
2. For each group member,
choose Peer Grade and give
Feedback

8. Students also feedback on their peers’ input into the assignment
How student’s grade their peers
0 3 5
• No attendance at meetings.
• No engagement in the project.
• Does not complete assigned tasks.
• No input into the assignment.
NB. Any students not engaging in group
assignment are to be reported to the module
leader
• Attends all meetings and engages
enthusiastically.
• Well organised and motivated.
• Able to negotiate with and motivate
others.
• Contributes effectively and shows
creativity and initiative.
• Significant and valuable input into
the assignment.

9. Grading criteria
Attendance at meetings, carrying out designated tasks,
dealing with problems.
Effectiveness in meetings, negotiation with the group,
communication between meetings, providing feedback.
Skills in self organisation, ability to organise others, planning,
setting targets, keeping to deadlines.
Motivation, creativity, initiative during the project.
Contribution to meetings, clarity of the work submitted,
objective quality of the work submitted.
Anything above and beyond the expected contribution that
really improved the project and was outstanding in terms of
creativity, quality, and/or work load.
Co-operation
Communication
Organisation
Enthusiasm
Actual contribution
Remarkable achievement
Students not grading the academic content but input to the project as a whole

10. Submission summary
3. Check summary
and save
Who hasn’t submitted
Peer grade and feedback
summary
4. Summary and ability to
edit submission (before the
deadline)

11. Student Group
Group
coursework
Student A
Peer grades &
comments
Student B
Peer grades &
comments
Student C
Peer grades &
comments
Student D
Peer grades &
comments
Students
DEADLINE
Deadline passes

12. Student A’s
Peer Grade Avg
Peer grade average calculation
Student B’s
Peer Grade
Student C’s
Peer Grade
Student D’s
Peer Grade
Number of Student A’s Peer Grades
Group
Peer Grade Avg
Student B’s
Peer Grades
Total
Student C’s
Peer Grade
Total
Student D’s
Peer Grade
Total
Student A’s
Peer Grades
Total
Number of Peer Grades

13. Individual and group averages
Student’s Peer Grade Average
Group Peer Grade Average

14. Student Group
Group
coursework
Student A
Peer grades &
comments
Student B
Peer grades &
comments
Student C
Peer grades &
comments
Student D
Peer grades &
comments
Academic
Grade group
coursework
Students Academic
DEADLINE
2. Academic grading

15. Group coursework grade
3. Add coursework grade and
feedback
2. View students’ peer
grades with averages and
feedback
1. Choose group to grade

16. Student Group
Group
coursework
Student A
Peer grades &
comments
Student B
Peer grades &
comments
Student C
Peer grades &
comments
Student D
Peer grades &
comments
Academic
Grade group
coursework
PA Activity
Calculates
Student A grade
PA Activity
Calculates
Student B grade
PA Activity
Calculates
Student C grade
PA Activity
Calculates
Student D grade
Students Academic PA Activity
DEADLINE
3. Calculate final peer grade

17. Student A’s
Peer Grade Avg
Student A’s
Coursework Grade
Reduces
Group
Peer Grade Avg
Student A’s
Peer Grade Avg
Student A’s
Coursework Grade
Increases
Group
Peer Grade Avg
Student A’s
Peer Grade Avg
Student A’s
Coursework Grade
Group
Peer Grade Avg
Final peer grade calculation

18. Final grades
Students’ peer grades, individual
average peer grade and feedback
Group average peer grade
Calculated grades
Group coursework grade

19. Export group grades to CSV
Ability to export individual group’s grades

20. Other supporting processes
1. Resolve within the
group
2. Can’t resolve – Module
Leader or Course Director
3. Remains unresolved –
Peer Assessment Review
Panel
Moderation
Grades and comments are reviewed and moderated to ensure fairness.
Peer Assessment Review Panels can also be requested by lecturers if grading is out
of line with the norm as part of the moderation process.
Dealing with group problems

21. Feedback from staff and students

22. Future improvements

23. Questions