Rather rely on an unchanging and potentially permanent assessment grade to motivate, peer evaluations can encourage a constant, growing and improving approach to work submission and learning.

Redefining Assessment

By allowing peers and other "equals" evaluate one's work, peer assessment tends to cause less stress and frustration, as well as reduce social loafing, due to the change in audience and expectations.

Reducing Stress and Improving Community Relations

Meeting the expectations of one's peers draws on both behavioral and emotional engagement, and can facilitate further discussion that is usually absent when being assessed by a lecturer.

"Motivated by the knowledge that there is an audience."

Peer assessment can help overcome feelings of isolation and distance, even in an fully-online, asynchronous setting.

Creation of community and socialization

Peer evaluation works best when the conditions and expectations is primarily set (and discussed) by the peer group, preferably with less expectations placed by the lecturer. In addition, the trust and validity of peer remarks heavily depends on accountability, personal transparency, and individual social dynamics. However, this does not guarantee that peer evaluations themselves will be effective, only that the acceptance of such a method.

Peer Assessment and Consensus of grading

Integrating assessment into learning by having not just the instructor, but the students' peers evaluate their work. This incorporates and fosters several key learning behaviors, such as self-assessment, collaboration, and peer honesty.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

New York University

- gamification systems
- social proof/influence
- social presence
- peer assessment
- goal setting
- comment/voting systems
- leadership type
- shared leadership

Ways to encourage contribution in online communities

McConnell, D. The Experience of Collaborate Assessment in e-Learning (2002). Studies in Continuing Education, 24:, 73-92.

The Experience of Collaborate Assessment in e-Learning (2002).

People will believe an action or outcome is valuable when they are led to believe that other people are doing it (or believe so)

Social proof

The application of engagement-based design ideas found in games, specifically focusing on how games can engage and motivate participants to return to the medium.

Gamification

When members self-set or are assigned highly challenging goals their contribution increases (DC 13 CH2)
Although many people use self-imposed goals as a source of self-regulation, research has shown that the goals people develop for themselves are not necessarily more powerful than goals assigned to them by an outside agent

Goal setting and contribution in online communities

Peer Assessment

When leadership is shared amongst the community and authoritative demands are feasible for any member, contribution tends to increase when leadership-like messages are sent by non-administrators/leaders. Allowing non-admin to send leadership-based messages may increase contribution from other members of the community through increased motivation.

Encouraging Contribution in Online Communities through Shared Leadership

Implementing transactional and person-based rather than aversive leadership styles is beneficial to the contributions of other non-leaders. When they feel a sense of support, connection positive encouragement from their leader, they are more likely to contribute than with negative, punishment-based leadership styles.

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