Abstract:

In recent years, the educational processes and scenarios have slowly aimed at empowering the students with 21st century skills as well as the core competencies required for career readiness. This means shifting focus from a knowledge-based to a competence-based curriculum which promotes the development of skills such as autonomy, responsibility, critical-thinking and self-awareness. With the accelerated digital transformation, technology occupies an unprecedented position in the classroom in what is supposed to be an improved digital literacy. Assessment must also respond to this combination of circumstances. A new evaluation culture has emerged where the student is an active participant in the learning process and takes responsibility in the multiple forms of assessment, producing a positive impact on students’ educational outcomes and cognitive development.

Studies on alternative digital assessment indicate that an important contribution for the development of lifelong learning skills and sustainable assessment practices is Online Peer Assessment (OPA). Falchikov (1995) defines peer assessment as the process whereby groups of individuals rate their peers. Beyond the grading procedure, literature emphasizes the active and self-regulatory learning process enhancing student critical thinking and fostering the development of essential professional skills.

To understand the importance of OPA in higher education, a systematic review of literature was carried out. After drafting an initial protocol, the following research question was defined: In what dimensions could OPA impact student learning in higher education as part of an alternative digital assessment? A search string was conducted in the online databases Discover and Scopus and limited to the years 2016 to 2021. Only peer-reviewed studies published in English or Portuguese were taken into consideration.

Through a transparent and rigorous documented scoping process, studies were screened, selected and scored. Findings point out that the main dimensions contemplated in the studies about OPA include: student performance and learning outcomes, accuracy and quality of peer assessment, use of scoring rubrics and other tools to support constructive feedback, ways peer assessment is performed, type of technology used, and mainly student response and attitude towards peer assessment practices. The several benefits associated with OPA are common to all articles, namely enhanced student autonomy, motivation and confidence.

Keywords:

Systematic review, student learning, online peer assessment, higher education.