Students' perceptions of fairness in peer assessment: evidence from a problem-based learning course

Abstract

This paper describes the experience of peer assessment in a problem-based learning course in a Portuguese university, and presents the results of a survey of 120 students who attended the course over seven semesters. Cluster analysis revealed that students group into two distinct clusters with significantly different experiences of peer assessment. Although the larger cluster (70%) expressed a positive experience, the other group perceived peer assessment results and final marks to be unfair, and reported incidents of friendship-marking and conflict arising from peer assessment. Results show that perceptions of fairness (both regarding peer assessment and final marks) are very much associated with those problems. We reflect on these findings to explore implications for practice as well as future research.