Implementing Double-Blind Peer Assessment in Virtual Classroom

Feedback is an essential component of learning, as it helps students identify their strengths and weaknesses, and improve their performance. However, the students may not be able to understand how their work has been judged. One way to address this issue is to let the students assess and comment on the work of their peers, Peer Assessment (PA). PA has benefits such as enhancing learning outcomes, developing self-assess and critical thinking skills, and fostering collaboration. However, PA also poses some challenges such as ensuring fairness, anonymity, and reliability. In this study, we designed and implemented an anonymous electronic PA for a few classes participating EU-Iran STEM/UNITEL project. We used several digital tools to simulate a double-blind PA process, and a rubric based on the students' own criteria and weights. The grades collected from 70 students represent positive feedback. We discuss the functionality, advantages, and limitations of our approach.