Abstract
This study explores the assessment method for assignments in a large class of over 100 students. This course is a mandatory freshman class where the primary format involves guest speakers giving lectures, and students must submit reflections on these lectures. However, this results in a high workload for teaching assistants (TAs) and frequent student complaints. The study addresses grading fairness, consistency, and excessive TA workload by implementing peer review. By designing a peer review mechanism, the study hopes to shift students' perspectives from complaining about TA grading to evaluating the quality of their peers' reflections, thereby reflecting on their writing and reducing complaints about grading. The effectiveness and applicability of the peer review mechanism in evaluating course reflections were assessed through end-of-semester surveys and student interviews. The study analyzed the difficulties and challenges encountered during the process and explored the feasibility of enhancing metacognitive abilities and deepening learning through peer review. The findings are intended to reference similar courses in their reflection assessment practices. Over two semesters, 166 survey responses were collected, and five students were interviewed. The analysis revealed that while students still questioned the fairness of peer review scores, they considered reading their peers' reflections a learning opportunity that motivated them to improve their writing. Additionally, peer review did alleviate the TAs' workload despite adding some tasks related to coordination and verification, which remained manageable. The study recommends strengthening assignment requirements, promoting the peer review concept, and assigning reasonable weight to peer-reviewed tasks to enhance effectiveness.