The effect of online peer assessment in engineering education: A quasi-experimental study

This study evaluates whether online peer assessment increases student participation and thus improves their learning achievement in a database system design and analysis course. To understand the effectiveness of online peer assessment within a Web 2.0 environment, we implemented an e-learning 2.0 platform to achieve the research purpose. Data were collected from student participants in a database system design and analysis course, including Really Simple Syndication (RSS), blogs, Wiki, and other online forums. We used a quasi-experimental design method to divide participants into an experimental group (N = 52) and a control group (N = 60). The control group was taught using a traditional face-to-face teaching method, while the experimental group followed the same course outline but was additionally assisted by the elearning 2.0 platform, which incorporated peer assessment mechanism. The results indicated that students in the experimental group had significantly better academic results than those in the control group.