Peer moderation of group work in a hospitality program : issues and reflections

This paper describes and discusses the role of peer assessment as a tool in allocating individual grades for group activities in hospitality education. Issues arising and reflections based on the use of peer assessment are then explored. The paper starts by describing the instrument used. Some of its features including validity and confidentiality are discussed. The focus of the paper is to reflect on issues that have arisen from the use of peer evaluation as a tool in hospitality education. These issues have been identified as those of equity, cross-cultural appropriateness, administration and, control and responsibility for both staff and students. Despite the added complexities, peer assessment in hospitality education is a worthwhile tool that fosters important industry-relevant skills, attributes and attitudes in students. This paper seeks to encourage the use of peer assessment in the assessment regime for group work and promote it as a moderating influence, not just in the hospitality context, but in other discipline areas reliant on "team work" approaches.