ABLE-GHANA: Reports, Resources, Reflections
Part 3: Assessing large cohorts: 3.3
Part 3 Assessing large cohorts
3.3 How to do peer assessment
Margaret Crabbe, Seyram Kawor and Professor Rob Paton
What is peer assessment?
Any form of assessment in which some or all of the marks and feedback are provided by
other students taking the same course.
Who uses it?
It is widely used in universities and colleges in both Europe and North America,
especially in professional and applied subjects.
Why is peer assessment used?
It requires students to engage more deeply with course ideas: in order to judge other
students’ work, they have to absorb and then apply relevant criteria. The result is that
they can then judge their own work more clearly as well1. Moreover, in assessing each
other’s work students are practising an important skill: it is needed in many aspects of
employment (in awarding contracts, in selection, as part of strategic planning, etc.). So
peer assessment is a form of experiential learning as well as being a form of assessment.
It also seems to encourage students to take responsibility; many find it motivating (peer
pressure!). In short, peer assessment is used because it enhances student learning.
Will it save me time marking?
Quite possibly – especially if you have a very large class and administer it carefully. But
don’t expect it to do so straight away! Both you and the students have to get used to it.
So how do I do peer assessment?
In lots of ways – it depends on what you are teaching, and at what level you are teaching.
Providing a clear and well thought-out marking scheme for the students to use is
essential. This can double-up as a form on which students record the marks they award.
Here are some ideas to get you started.
 Use student assignments from a previous year as the basis for a classroom exercise,
and to get students used to applying criteria. Use this as a chance to spot confusions
and to discuss the judgements they will have to make.
 Have students work in small groups of four, and mark four pieces of work written by
another four students. They read and mark one each, then pass them on, until each
has marked all four. Then they compare their separate scores, discuss the
differences and try to agree a mark for each piece of work in turn. They complete a
form with all these results on it, and return the assignments and the form to you to
review and moderate.
 Require the groups to prepare simple feedback to the student – what they most
appreciated about the work, and what changes would most improve it (giving
feedback is a very important part of management!).
One controlled evaluation study of peer marking found that the students who had to
mark other students’ work did better in later assignments than those who did not have
to do so; and this was true even if they were not very good at awarding marks.
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How to do peer assessment
ABLE-GHANA: Reports, Resources, Reflections
Part 3: Assessing large cohorts: 3.3
 Have students work as groups to assess each other’s group reports and projects –
either formatively or summatively.
 Have small groups of students take turns teaching parts of a course (it also develops
presentation skills). You chair the session and correct errors or confusions. Peers
pose questions if they don’t understand, and finally rate how well they thought the
teaching was done on a given set of criteria. Student-awarded marks count for (say)
40 per cent and the lecturer’s rating for 60 per cent of the student’s mark for that
element of assessment.
 Allow time to discuss the peer assessment process – both assessing and being
assessed. Consider setting an exam or other assessment question. For instance,
‘From your experience in this class, what did you learn, that is likely to be relevant in
business, about the challenges of assessment processes [or: giving and receiving
feedback on performance] and the different ways of doing this?’
 For later modules in a Masters programme, ask the students to devise the marking
scheme in a classroom discussion.
How do you stop students cheating or misusing the arrangement?
Spotting offenders (who award all the same, or random, marks; or who agree to give
each other high marks, for example) is quite easy. Early on, publicly penalise those who
cannot plausibly justify the marks they award, and students will quickly get the
message.
What if the students are bad at marking, and the results are not fair?
To begin with, you will have to moderate the marks carefully. Give them feedback on
what you have done – congratulating them on being broadly on target, or advising if
they have been too severe or too lenient, or just erratic. Then if a student complains, you
can say ‘But that is the mark I awarded, or the same as I would have awarded – and this
is why…’ Once they are used to it and you are more confident, your moderating can
focus on weaker students, or any suspicious patterns. Remember, you are entitled to
ignore modest differences (say, up to a grade).2 But if the students’ marking really is all
over the place, that means you have set them too hard a task: perhaps you went too fast
in the teaching, or your marking scheme isn’t as clear as you thought.
Any other points to bear in mind?
Start simple, with modest experiments. Remember that peer assessment is part of the
teaching and learning as well – it is about cultivating their judgement, not just assessing
their learning. Use a student feedback form at the end of the module to find out what
students think about it – see below.
Marking is not an exact science, and we aren’t as good at it as we like to think. If you or
I mark the same script twice with a gap of a few weeks, lo! – we do not give the same
mark. If a group of us mark the same script, we often disagree by two or more grades.
But this does not invalidate academic grading, because cumulatively, over a series of
assignments, our scores for particular students converge; we do still agree on the
excellent, strong, middling, weak, failing and hopeless students (A to F grades).
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How to do peer assessment
ABLE-GHANA: Reports, Resources, Reflections
Part 3: Assessing large cohorts: 3.3
Peer assessment – student feedback form
As part of [name of your course] you took part in some peer assessment – that is, you
marked some of your fellow students’ assignments, and you had your work marked by
some of them.
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On reflection, what were the best things about this peer assessment?
2
On reflection, what were the worst things about it?
3 Peer assessment can be done in different ways. Would you like to see it used in other
courses as well? Please tick one of the boxes below.
1
Definitely not – I don’t see the point and it undermines the course

2
Probably not – I doubt if it can be made to work properly

3
Undecided - it all depends on how it’s done

4
Probably yes – I’d like it to work, but I realise it isn’t easy

5
Definitely yes – it’s a good idea and I learned more by doing it

If you have any comments or suggestions concerning peer assessment, please give them
here:
How to do peer assessment