Peer Assessment

The increased use of digital tools in educational environments has enabled easier implementation of peer assessment, especially in courses with a large number of students (more than 50) and those involving remote participants (students or teachers).

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions around the world had begun introducing Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) (Heaton-Shrestha et al., 2009) and Learning Management Systems (LMS).

Although the level of use varies among teachers, VLE and LMS systems often already include various online tools that support different forms of peer assessment (Bri et al., 2009). Plugins and add-ons have also been developed for certain systems to support specific aspects of peer assessment, such as calculating a fairer final grade based on peer assessment (Divjak & Maretić, 2017).

Tools for self-assessment are also prominent, particularly e-portfolio systems. An e-portfolio system that includes functionalities for self-reflection, goal planning, and progress tracking – such as Mahara, which is widely used in higher education (Balaban et al., 2012) – supports this purpose.

There are many specialised tools on the market designed specifically for peer assessment, such as Spark, FeedbackFruits, Scorion, and CATME (Van Helden et al., 2023). Basic versions with limited functionality are often free for smaller groups of students, while full functionality is available only through paid plans (e.g., Peergrade and FeedbackFruits).