Introducing a Collaborative Peer-Evaluation Learning Model in Higher Education Programming-Based Courses

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present a learning model for programming based laboratory courses where cognitive enhancement is succeeded through active evaluation of programming assignments among peers. The model comprises three successive phases: training of students in peer-evaluation processes, in-class collaborative peer evaluation, and distance peer evaluation. A first experiment on the effectiveness of the model has been carried out in the context of an Artificial Intelligence laboratory course during the spring semester of 2012, with promising results. Students expressed their satisfaction with peer evaluation activities and especially with collaborative evaluation in class, by means of a questionnaire delivered to them at the end of the semester. Future steps will be to apply the model to additional programming courses of the curriculum in order to acquire more data and study in depth the obtained benefits with regard to the students' cognitive, behavioral and social enhancement.