Published in 2016, McDonald's very short book (60 pages) covers what it means to do peer assessment well, why it is helpful, and offers examples of ways it has already been done.
Peer assessment is a well-used but often misunderstood mode of alternative assessment. It is extremely helpful for its ability to increase empathy, critical thinking, and communication skills in students (McDonald, 2015), but many have voiced frustration with student’s tendency to grade generously or mistrust their peers’ feedback. (McDonald, 2015) The goal of this page is to shed light on ways that peer assessment can be done that are helpful to both parties and to share research on the ways that it can be used to address higher-level thinking (Zhan et al., 2023).