WebPA is a tool for peer assessment of group work that provides individualized marks. It allows students to assess their peers' contributions anonymously. Teachers benefit from its flexibility and ability to automatically generate marks. Students benefit from greater reflection, feedback, involvement in assessment, and fair evaluation of individual contributions to group work. The tool has been adopted by over 250 institutions worldwide and enhances learning outcomes from group projects.

1. WebPA - A practical approach to peer assessing group work Enabling every team member to recognise individual contributions to group work http://www.flickr.com/photos/wmacphail/3382077156/ Adam Crawford engCETL, Loughborough University

2. “ Some of the best modules during my Engineering degree were group based modules. The combination of the team working and the peer assessment was a great introduction to working in a team within industry.” Alan Curtis Research Engineer JCB Power Systems Ltd

3. Group work is common practice in higher education It can help prepare students for the workplace Develops transferable skills such as team-working, communication and problem solving It can help reduce assessment load Group work in education

4. A well known criticism of assessed group work is that each student receives the same team mark, regardless of individual performance

5. By using WebPA to peer assess group work, each student receives an adjusted mark Marked by students, the people that know!

6. How it works… creating forms

8. © Loughborough University 2009

9. How it works… creating groups

11. © Loughborough University 2009

12. How it works… setting up an assessment

14. © Loughborough University 2009

15. How it works… Student marking

16. © Loughborough University 2009

17. It is a sophisticated, yet quick and easy tool for formative or summative assessment . How do teachers benefit from using WebPA?

18. © Loughborough University 2009 Flexibility to create assessment criteria, scoring ranges and groups to suit the way you teach, in any subject discipline How do teachers benefit from using WebPA?

19. The generation of individual student marks is automated using a researched and trusted method. How do teachers benefit from using WebPA?

20. Students are involved in the assessment process, reflecting on their own and their peers’ performance How do learners benefit from using WebPA?

21. It is a fair and confidential way of assessing an individuals’ contribution within group work How do learners benefit from using WebPA?

22. It positively impacts upon individual performance and team dynamics , enriching the overall learning experience . How do learners benefit from using WebPA?

23. Student Experiences Some would like to leave justification of scores given in the assessment (feature added after research carried out) Enhances deeper reflection A wish to know what their peers feel about them through the tool (feedback mechanism)

24. The student perspective 12 departments over 3 faculties (386 students, 8.5% response rate) 77% prefer group work with peer assessment (14% don’t) 79% happy to self assess (11% unhappy) 87% happy assessing peers (7% unhappy) 70% happy with peers assessing them (17% unhappy)

25. The spread of WebPA from Engineering across the Loughborough University Campus The staff perspective “ Overall, marking is honest and credible” Dr Keith Pond Business School Loughborough University Dr Carol Robinson Director Mathematics Education Centre Loughborough University “ Students are much more satisfied – complaints have almost disappeared.”

26. "WebPA is now embedded in our first year and will be for the next five years. Typically 180-200 students will be subjected to.. [WebPA] ..every year." Dr Bob Cherry Manchester Metropolitan University “ We are impressed with the success of the WebPA project and the impact on group work in higher education.” David Kernohan Programme Manager eLearning Team JISC

27. Embedding Departmental and Professional Development training sessions New Lecturers Route Academic Practice Award Word of mouth ‘ One to one’ training Group work review and policy

28. Usage at Loughborough In over 67% of departments Over 7,500 students From one academic tutor in 2004 to 57 in 2009

29. Open source Free to download Over 250 downloads In over twenty institutions in the UK and 10 world wide Note: staff resource cost to install and maintain on a server

30. To support those considering adoption of WebPA Sections for Academic tutors Learning Technologists / Educational Developers IT Support Staff Briefing Papers for senior managers etc. Available online from: http://www.webpa.ac.uk Resource Pack

31. JISC - WebPA Project Funded under the JISC: e-Learning Capital Programme Led by the Faculty of Engineering at Loughborough University. Project partners: - University of Hull - HE Academy Engineering Subject Centre - HE Academy Physical Sciences Subject Centre Ran from October 2006 to March 2009

32. Resource pack and other information Project Website: www.webpa.ac.uk Have a look WebPA Demonstrator: http://webpaos.lboro.ac.uk User community WebPA mail list: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/WEBPA.html