Mind the Gap: Insights into Student Perceptions During Peer Assessment of Writing

As educators, we need to be mindful of the gaps between student and teacher: the gaps in conceptual knowledge, the gaps in skills, and the gaps in perceptions of quality. Additionally, engineers need to be equipped with communication skills, including high-quality engineering writing. In pursuit of this goal, we reflect upon our experiences after introducing a writing activity to a large cohort of second-year engineering students. We present our findings from analysis of uncalibrated self and peer assessments of written work, alongside traditional expert-marking, to quantify the gaps in perceptions of quality.