Peer assessment in PBL: does gender matter?

Abstract

This work attempts to identify gender differences on the peer assessment process within Project-Based Learning (PBL). It involved the study of perceptions on teamwork and grade results from a total of 330 students distributed by seven successive PBL editions of the Industrial Engineering and Management program. This program can be considered gender balanced, with 51% females and 49% males. The data analyzed focused on peer assessment results and on the final marks. The analysis revealed a positive correlation between the peer assessment grades and the final grades. A gender difference was found on peer grades as well as on final grades, favoring female. The individual merit was put forward in an attempt to justify the differences found, but conclusive evidence should be supported with further investigation.