Online peer evaluation for assessing perceived academic engagement in higher education

Abstract

Many institutions monitor academic engagement to investigate student achievement and institutional performance. Relying only on self-reports is prone to misjudgment. Peer evaluation through teamwork has the potential to substitute for measuring engagement, which has not been emphasized in the literature. This study examines whether peer evaluation can represent perceived academic engagement with coursework, operationalized as "active learning" and "paying attention." Data were collected through an online peer evaluation system. Participants were 215 undergraduate and graduate students from three universities. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test hypotheses. Results show that peer evaluation is statistically predictive of perceived academic engagement. Peers give high scores to their counterparts conforming to the literature. Students are more engaged than overall benchmarks. Results suggest that creating more opportunities for teamwork in the educational environment and efficient ways to incorporate peer evaluation through means such as social networks and online learning management systems are viable venues for improvement.