Peer assessment in education: A seven-year implementation and iterative development of a customizable digital tool

• Developed “Review Wave”, a customizable digital application to streamline peer assessment (PA) in higher education. • PA contributed to increased student engagement, and comprehension of course content. • Pre- and post-test comparisons suggest that PA participants demonstrated greater knowledge gains relative to non-participants. • The application streamlined key PA tasks, contributing to reduced administrative complexity and improved process transparency. • Student and educator feedback indicated positive perceptions of usability, adaptability, and pedagogical alignment. This article examines the sustained use of a Peer assessment (PA) framework in a higher education course over seven years and the parallel development of “Review Wave”, a digital application designed to support both educators and students. For educators, it streamlines administration while preserving flexibility in design. For students, it provides an interface that simplifies the process of giving and receiving feedback. The framework was implemented annually from 2017 to 2024 and refined in successive cycles through student outcomes, perception surveys, and educator feedback. A mixed-methods evaluation combined quantitative analyses of student performance with qualitative data from surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Results indicate that PA supported students’ understanding of course requirements and encouraged evaluative judgment, though challenges remained in formulating constructive feedback. Educators reported reductions in administrative workload and noted the adaptability of the application across disciplinary contexts. An exploratory pilot of AI-assisted feedback suggested potential benefits for structuring comments, while underscoring the importance of keeping students responsible for their own reviews. The findings demonstrate how a long-term, iterative approach can inform both the pedagogical integration of PA and the design of digital systems that enable its sustainable use in higher education.