Validation of Student Peer Assessment of Effective Oral Communication in Engineering Degrees

Peer assessment is a form of collaborative learning in which students evaluate learning products prepared by other students. We present the results of an analysis of the assessment of oral presentations by students. A group of students solves a problem, writes a document with the solution, and makes an oral presentation in class to other students. Another group assesses the written document and oral presentation. To help students perform the assessments, two rubrics are provided along with other guidance documents that help in writing scientific documents and performing oral presentations. The rubric evaluates five factors of oral communication. The results of the student evaluations are compared with the simultaneous evaluations produced by two lecturers. When making a comparison of the global assessment between lecturers and students, we find significant differences. However, when the factor "use of auxiliary resources" is removed, these differences disappear as the factor introduces a difficult to justify dispersion. In addition, the assessment performed by students with and without the help of a rubric is compared and no significant differences are found.