Peer assessment in the classroom using mobile devices

Peer feedback can engage the learning process, but collecting the survey data into a usable format can be time-consuming, which can deter classroom teachers from undertaking the kind of in-depth analysis for classroom research. To overcome this detriment, and in order to research the effects of learning by assessing, we created a peer feedback module ("add-on") to a free, open-source student response system (SRS). Using this SRS, teachers create a survey for peer feedback. Students can access this survey through any web browser on any kind of device, from computers to smartphones, to rate their classmates' performances. The survey is reused for each feedback session. This module can output data files compatible with MFRM (many-faceted Rasch measurement) software, which allows teachers to analyse the collected data in a very short amount of time.