THE USE OF PEER ASSESSMENT ON A BUSINESS MODULE: WORKING TOWARDS AN EFFECTIVE SYSTEM

As an experienced teacher and former course leader on a large undergraduate business programme the author was aware of students’ reluctance to engage in group assessment, especially on modules where the outcome would have an impact on final degree classification. However the same students were seeking employment in graduate positions in the corporate environment, where “In the list of the highly ranked skills, team working skills (67%) are followed by sector-specific skills and communication skills.” (Europa 2010). Accepting that group assessed assignments should continue to be a feature of assessment in the business school as a means of enhancing graduate employability, the author sought to explore ways of improving perceptions of group work via the peer assessment process. The focus of the study was a module in the subject area of Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour. As it was ‘elective’ in that students had chosen to study it as part of their degree programme, it was reasonable to assume a degree of willingness to engage in group work, as students opposed to the concept would have chosen an alternative module with different assessment methods. The assessment component of the module that was subject to peer assessment was a training programme, which comprised 40% of the marks for the module. The remaining marks were allocated to individual assessment elements. Participants were drawn from a range of business, accounting, marketing and HR related courses in the business school and the author aimed to survey their views on collaborative assessment with a view to incorporating improvements in the peer assessment model for the module, disseminating findings amongst academics involved in peer assessment at the business school and thus instigating discussion on a common model of peer assessment. A literature review and issues arising from the author’s own experience on the module informed the nature of the primary research which comprised a questionnaire survey and follow up interviews. Findings were that most students viewed peer assessment positively for its impact on motivation and learning and perceived it to be a fairer process than tutor allocated group marks alone, but that a significant minority of mainly non-native English speaking students were wary of peer assessment in terms of their competence in implementing it and their treatment by native English speaking students. Also students were willing to provide additional feedback to supplement the current ratings but were not interested in devising their own assessment criteria and not enthusiastic about implementing a common system of peer assessment throughout the business school.