Fostering higher education students’ perceptions of trust and participation in peer feedback: investigating the efficacy of an intervention combining training and backward evaluation

Senden, Morgane;Frenay, Mariane;Charlier, Bernadette;Coertjens, Liesje
(2026) Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education — (2026)

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Peer feedback is an effective way to foster higher education students’ learning, but only if students are actively engaged. Yet, students often resist it. One reason for this resistance is that students may not trust that they and their peers are able to provide useful feedback. To enhance trust in the self and in the peer as an assessor, we created an intervention with two elements: (1) a training session targeting trust in peer feedback and (2) a backward evaluation. To test the intervention’s effectiveness, we conducted a quasi-experimental mixed-method study with an explanatory sequential design. Students in the experimental group (N = 95) received the intervention, while students in the control condition (N = 94) participated in the peer feedback activity without the intervention. Quantitative results revealed positive reactions to the training and an increase in participation rates in peer feedback. However, contrary to our hypotheses, the intervention did not significantly impact students’ perception of trust in the self and in the peer as an assessor. Results from follow-up interviews, conducted with sixteen students to better understand these quantitative results, suggest that the intervention may have affected the meaning that students attributed to peer feedback and their feeling of legitimacy to provide it.
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Senden, M., Frenay, M., Charlier, B., & Coertjens, L. (2026). Fostering higher education students’ perceptions of trust and participation in peer feedback: investigating the efficacy of an intervention combining training and backward evaluation. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. Published. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2026.2643337 (Original work published 2026)