Effectiveness of Peer Evaluation in Learning Process: A Case from Dental Technology Students

Peer assessment or evaluation has been shown to play an important role in several learning processes. However, the effectiveness of this educational evaluation method has yet to be studied among students in different specialties.

The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of peer evaluation as a method of student assessments in dental technology courses.

The study sample (n=130 students) was randomly divided into 5 groups, then the effectiveness of peer evaluation was measured and correlated with student’s Grade Point Average (GPA) and gender.

The results showed the ability of students to evaluate their peers in a certain course. As per students’ perspective, scores ranged from 3.79-4.24 (out of 5), with a high degree of practice in all fields, ranked as follows: psychological stress, teamwork, self-efficacy, and, finally, the use of social media for learning. The mean score of all the categories in the peer assessment of students was 4.005 with a high degree of practice according to Scheffe's Test. Female gender was associated with significantly higher scores in the fields of psychosocial pressure, use of social media and overall scores. In addition, students achieving a GPA of 68 and more had significantly higher overall scores compared to students with lower GPAs.

Peer evaluation seems to be a valid tool for students’ assessment; thus, it can be recommended as part of the course grading system in dental technology courses and can be applied to other dental or medical courses that involve practical sessions.