Peer evaluation : incentivizing truthful reporting

Abstract

Groups assignments are a common sight in today's education requirements. Such assignments are useful in testing students on not only their knowledge of certain topics, but also on how effective they can apply said knowledge in a team environment. However, it is also widely known that the "free rider" problem has plagued students and assessors alike since the advent of group assignments. It is not uncommon to see unbalanced groups where a competent minority does most or all the work whereas the majority choose to simply watch on. There are also cases of disputes where members disagree on how much they contributed. The most utilised method of assessing scores in this context involves peer evaluation. In this paper, we investigate a few scoring mechanisms that can help us resolve the issues above and serve as a useful tool for frustrated educators and students when it comes to peer evaluation scores.