DSGN119/129 - Design as a Generic Tool

Professor M Neil James - Web page http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/si   Email: mjames@plymouth.ac.uk

Mentor for the assignments and group operation for all students is Dr M Singh (School of Engineering - Reynolds Building, Email: msingh@plymouth.ac.uk).

Peer Assessment of Individual Contributions to Team Project

Each team member must undertake an anonymous peer assessment of the other members using the SPARK software developed by Professor Darrall Thompson at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.  This software is available at the university of Plymouth on local web servers and full directions on the process of using SPARK will be given during lectures.  Guidelines to performing peer assessment with SPARK are also hyperlinked, and may be subject to updating during the module.  This peer assessment of individual contributions to the team project must be completed electronically and has the same deadlines as the group reports. Failure to complete the peer assessment by an individual will result in the loss of 10% of that person's overall mark for the Team Project.

Peer assessment will be performance based, not personality based. It should, principally, be based on:

The peer assessment marks submitted by individuals will remain strictly confidential and known only by the teaching team. Even during any ensuing discussions with group members these marks will not be divulged. Whilst these marks must be taken into account in producing the final individual mark for the module, the teaching team has the final say in any arbitration arising out of any discrimination against individuals.  It should also be noted that the small size of the groups, coupled with occasional non-submission of the peer assessment form, can magnify the effects of adverse or positive marking.  This may be countered by 'capping' of the possible mark variation.

Typical example of peer assessment

The calculation of individual marks for the project arising from peer assessment will operate as follows.   Excluding yourself, award marks in the range 0 to 5 for the five categories in the table to the other members of your group according to the following scale:

Did not contribute: 0; Token contribution: 1; Willing but not successful: 2; Average: 3; Above average: 4; Outstanding: 5

The effect of the peer assessment on the final mark works as follows. Assume a group of six students with the following peer-mark allocation (5 categories with a maximum score of 5 marks each, submitted by 5 students in the group for each student, gives a maximum possible total of 125 marks).

Group member A 100; Group member B 80; Group member C 120; Group member D 110; Group member E 50; Group member F 105

Average peer mark 94.17        Overall group mark 60%     Group member A: [√(100/94.17)]x 60 = 62%.

Similarly group member B 55%; Similarly group member C 68%; Similarly group member D 65%; Similarly group member E 44%; Similarly group member F 63%.

If all members were to receive the same peer mark then the final mark would be 60% for each member.

Groups that allocate zero of very low marks to one or more of the members have to substantiate this with evidence of previous communications with the module Tutor regarding non-participation in the project.