Using Peer Feedback to Motivate Teamwork in an Online Learning Environment

Abstract

This chapter explains how peer feedback was used to motivate students to contribute more effectively towards a group assessment. The students involved were international, geographically dispersed, working remotely, and learning in an entirely online environment to complete a postgraduate course in management. Postgraduate programs often make extensive use of collaborative tasks, but teamwork is a skill that students find challenging to execute and develop; even more so when operating in an online learning environment. To address these issues, the authors introduced a peer feedback system into the assessment process which involved the group mark being adjusted for individuals based on the feedback provided by other members of the group. The authors contend that the initiative, which was evaluated using a survey and focus groups, was a highly effective way to make the assessment process fairer and to motivate students to work more enthusiastically on a group task.