Web-based Peer Assessment: A Case Study with Civil Engineering Students

Peer-assessed online collaborative writing is of growing importance for higher education. Based on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of collected data, this work presents the results of a case study in a graduate civil engineering course at the University of Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal. After an overall presentation of the learning activity, it examines students’ attitudes towards web-based peer assessment and identifies which factors are related to students’ use and appreciation of feedback. In addition, an analysis of the type of feedback is presented in an attempt to evaluate students’  written communication skills. The results of this study provide indications on how to improve the design and implementation of future web-based peer assessment tasks and raise questions on the effectiveness of peer/teacher grading in the use of feedback.