Using online peer feedback tools to improve undergraduate group interaction and assessment quality

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

In higher education, sophisticated online learning management systems offer educators unprecedented opportunity to design and implement assessment-specific feedback rubrics with relative ease. In 2022, Feedback Fruits, a flexible, online feedback tool, became available at Flinders University (Australia) with system migration to Canvas. This study evaluated the acceptability and impact of online peer feedback rubrics introduced to a group assessment in a 3rd year, undergraduate, medical science topic. In this study, online feedback participation rates were high (range 84.3-96%), with participants preference for anonymous feedback (77%). Mean peer evaluation scores improved for information sharing, task completion and discussion at final assessment; with feedback received ranked ‘high’ by 56.8% of students. Mean group evaluation scores improved for topic coverage, poster format and referencing at final assessment; with feedback received ranked ‘high’ by 59.1% of. students. In summary, online peer feedback improved student engagement and group assessment learning in this topic.