How honest are the students when assessing each other’s work?

In this study, we try to assess how a student evaluates his peers performance from an in-class presentation when subjected to a similar assignment. Student in-class presentations are a valuable tool, not only for a lecturer to evaluate each ones performance, but also to give the students a chance to show their work with a sense of pride. Besides, it allows the audience to learn by making them aware of other approaches, points of view and conclusions: it is a learning environment.
This study was carried out in the Technical University of Lisbon in Portugal, under the modules of Technical Design and Geometrical Modelling I and II (1st year students) as a way of giving the students the opportunity to share their project designs with their colleagues, so that all might broaden their horizons. The students were invited to mark each other presentations, anonymously, and it was concluded that, although they have a tendency to overrate their “mates”, they clearly make a qualitative distinction and relative judgement between the different performances.