Modelling a Peer Assignment Review Process for Collaborative E-learning

The educational culture in most developing countries is lecturer-centred with lecturers as providers of information and students as receivers of information. This approach has impacted on student's ability to seek and create knowledge to support their learning process. A collaborative learning approach that promotes students process of inquiry, critical thinking and skill development thus lacks in the context, yet these aspects are crucial in the knowledge society. If universities in developing countries are to educate students to compete and become active participants in society, the teaching and learning processes underpinned by relevant theories and models should be adopted. This paper proposes an approach to support students' learning in a developing country context - Uganda. Specifically, the authors design and model a peer assignment review process for collaborative e-learning, employing the second stage of development research. The model is based on using student to pedagogically support each other's learning through four process stages: familiarization, assignment, review and feedback. Empirical investigations of the process stages indicated that the peer assignment review process facilitated the students learning. Students indicated that they were able to actively participate in the course, gain experience in critical reading and evaluating peers work, while reflecting on their own work. The empirical investigation further indicated that students were able to adopt and use online technologies in their learning activities. As such the peer assignment review process impacted the students learning both as receivers and providers of reviews creating a level of acceptance to adopt and use the proposed collaborative e-learning approach.