Students’ perceptions of peer assessment effectiveness: an explorative study

Despite increasing demands by stakeholders to instil teamwork skills in accounting graduates, the assessment practices associated with teamwork in the accounting curricula are not yet well developed. This study examined the association between students’ perceptions of peer assessment attributes (i.e. anonymity, question relevance and mark allocation) and the perceived effectiveness of peer assessment in preventing free riding, reducing conflict, improving communication and enhancing the quality of contributions to teamwork. A peer assessment approach was trialled at a master's accounting course at an Australian university and data were collected via a survey of students’ perceptions of their experiences. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered to address the research objectives. The results suggested that students who found the mark allocation appropriate, also found that the peer evaluation system had a positive effect in reducing free riding, improving communication within the team and enhancing the quality of contribution of the team members. Students who highly valued the anonymity in peer assessment, also found that peer assessment reduced free riding among team members. Students’ qualitative comments suggested that additional mechanisms are needed in peer assessment, including formative feedback from peers and having teaching staff moderate the marks for summative assessment purposes.