Design and development of web-based peer and self assessment system

The purpose of this study was to design and develop a web-based integrated peer and self-evaluation system (WesPASS). WesPASS (Web based Self and Peer Assessment System) is designed for students to use it for self and peer evaluations of performance projects and other project work and provide feedback to them accordingly for improvement. In this study, design research approach is utilized. Design research is a flexible research method and approach aiming to implement design principles and approaches. In this method, the researcher and participants collaborates together in the real context and application during the process particular cycles of analysis, design, development and application/utilization. The basic components of WesPASS were first determined considering those included in the similar other systems. Then, this prototype system was further developed and field-tested based on the data and expert view. The system was coded in PHP and MySQL made available through a Linux based server in two web-domains www.akrandegerlendirme.com and www.wespass.com . Application of the system was carried out in four elementary schools (two public and two private) located in Keçiören district of Ankara. Participants of the WesPASS field-tests were 102 fourth-grade students selected from these schools and their teachers. The system and its usage were introduced to the students and the teachers in an hands-on interactive format. Then, each teacher and students were defined in the system and provided with a username and password. Teachers assigned the homeworks and the evaluation rubrics they prepared through the WesPASS interface on the website to the students. The students solved the homeworks made available on their homepages and then uploaded to WesPASS. The system automatically assigned each students' homework solutions to other two students for peer evaluation. To collect data for further improvement of the WesPASS system, teachers and students were asked about their views regarding the WesPASS usage, student services, homework services, and evaluation services. The results revealed that the teachers thought that the student menu is simple and useful, the system is user-friendly and that an information and communication technologies such as the WesPASS would be useful for accelerating the evaluation process and enable exchange of ideas. Moreover, teachers also suggested adding two new component to system: (i) a system for producing reports out of students' peer evaluations and another one for warning, (ii) a warning system alerting once a student uploads his/her homework to the WesPASS. Furthermore, teachers also expressed that administrative right should be provided to the teachers to correct issues such as wrong homeworks and rubrics. On the other hand, 89.2% of the students expressed that they could view the homework without a problem. Also, 93.1% of the students indicated that they had no login problems. 40.1% of the students indicated that they had difficulty in uploading their homeworks to the system. 74.4% of the students expressed that they had no problem with the system when evaluating their peers' works. Using the feedback from the teachers and the students, necessary changes and improvements were made to the WesPASS and it was made ready for further usage.