S1-COMP8-5 - An exploration on effectiveness of anonymous peer assessment strategy in online formative assessments
2. Research-to-Practice Work In ProgressBibhya Sharma1, 2, Gavin Khan1, 2, Salsabil Nusair1, 2, Krishna Raghuwaiya2, 3
1 School of Computing, Information and Mathematical Sciences
2 The University of the South Pacific
3 School of Education
Introduction
This paper presents findings to quantify the effectiveness of using online peer assessment strategy through Moodle workshop tool in a Communications and Information Technology online and blended course. The study focused on the reliability and validity of grades given by graders using Moodle workshop tool. All assessments were also manually graded by facilitators as independent variable for comparison with final Moodle grade allocated by Moodle workshop tool. The quasi-experimental study was conducted in a compulsory Communications and Information Technology undergraduate course across 14 campuses on formative procedural knowledge assessment. Assessments from five graders were considered for analysis where students were also allowed to self-assess their work as one of the graders. The methods used for data analysis were descriptive statistics, correlation, interrater reliability tests and validity tests applied at 95% confidence level. The findings for online peer assessment activity were reliable and valid within 0.8 inter-rater agreement with self-assessment and without self-assessment. Furthermore, the final online peer assessment grade allocated by Moodle workshop tool was consistent with the facilitator grade. However, Mann Whitney-U test revealed a significant difference between Moodle grade and facilitator grade for online and blended modes mostly due to: the understanding of the online students on the assessment itself, assess to ICT tools and internet connection facilities while grading peers work and the marking variance of the facilitators.