Why peer evaluations in student teams don't tell us what we think they do

There is increasing use of peer evaluations in academic settings to assess student performance in team activities. Building on Kenny's social relations model, the authors analyzed peer ratings from 85 teams of graduate students enrolled in a teamwork and leadership course. Results indicate the presence of greater assimilation at mid-semester and increased consensus for all performance criteria and uniqueness for most performance criteria at the end of the semester. Results further indicate the source of variance varied for different performance dimensions. Implications for the use of peer evaluations are discussed as well as future application and research direction.