Student experience of peer assessment on an MSc programme

Abstract

The validity of peer assessment as well as students experience and understanding of the process are recurrent themes in the educational literature. We studied postgraduates' experience of summative peer assessment, in particular their perceptions of the process. Student experience was generally positive, and not affected by characteristics such as first language (English or not), area of origin (European Union versus international), previous degree (medical versus science), or current academic performance in the MSc class. Several key themes emerged and are discussed further with possible implications for both practice and future research. © 2013 G. Scott.