Peer assessment has proven to be a promising assessment form, but there is only limited research about how to decrease the undesirable social effects that are inherent to the process, such as peer pressure and fear of disapproval. In previous research, anonymity has proven to be an important factor in peer assessment in higher education. In the current research, peer assessment was studied in secondary education and classroom response technology (CRT) was introduced as a tool that enables anonymity within face-to-face settings. A quasi-experimental study was set up in four classes to compare traditional nonanonymous peer assessment (raising score cards) with anonymous peer assessment (giving scores using CRT). It was questioned whether students felt more positive towards anonymous peer assessment, and reported to feel less negative social effects. Subsequently, the hypothesis that anonymous peer assessment would be a more valid methodology is verified. Finally, teachers' experiences with both peer assessment interventions were studied. Although some concerns were raised about the validity of anonymous peer assessment, it has been found that pupils felt more positive towards peer assessment and experienced less peer pressure and fear of disapproval when scores were given anonymously using CRT. Teachers reported that using CRT was an objective way of assessing but raised some concerns with regard to the control of the teacher, and the classroom characteristics. In this regard, implications for future research are discussed.

Although previous research has indicated that providing anonymity is an effective way to create a safe peer assessment setting, continuously ensuring anonymity prevents students from experiencing genuine two-way interactive feedback dialogues. The present study investigated how installing a transitional approach from an anonymous to a non-anonymous peer assessment setting can overcome this problem. A total of 46 bachelor's degree students in Educational Studies participated in multiple peer assessment cycles in which groups of students assessed each other's work. Both students' evolution in peer feedback quality as well as their perceptions were measured. The content analysis of the peer feedback messages revealed that the quality of peer feedback increased in the anonymous phase, and that over time, the feedback in the consecutive non-anonymous sessions was of similar quality. The results also indicate that the transitional approach does not hinder the perceived growth in peer feedback skills, nor does it have a negative impact on their general conceptions towards peer assessment. Furthermore, students clearly differentiated between their attributed importance of anonymity and their view on the usefulness of a transitional approach. The findings suggest that anonymity can be a valuable scaffold to ease students' importance level towards anonymity and their associated need for practice.

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This study explores the effects of peer assessment (PA) practice on peer feedback (PF) quality of 11th grade secondary education students (N= 36). The PA setting was synchronous: anonymous assessors gave immediate PF using mobile response technology during 10 feedback occasions. The design was quasi-experimental (experimental vs. control condition) in which students in one condition received a scaffold to filter out relevant information they received. It was expected that this filter-out scaffold would influence PF quality in subsequent tasks in which they were assessors. PF content analysis showed that offering multiple PF occasions improved PF quality: messages contained more negative verifications and informative and suggestive elaborations after the intervention. However, no effects were found of filtering out relevant information on PF quality. Moreover, students’ perceived peer feedback skills improved which was in correspondence with their actual quality improvement over time. Additionally, the perceived usefulness of the received feedback was rated high by all participants

As virtual reality headsets have become more affordable since 2015, they are increasingly being used in educational settings. Immersive virtual reality (iVR) does offer unique learning opportunities, and making it as such an interesting instructional tool. Virtual reality technology has been used and studied widely in higher education. This scoping review aims to bring an overview of empirical studies of immersive virtual reality learning experiences in secondary education. Following the scoping review methodology by Arksey and O'Malley (2005) the databases of Web of Science and Eric were searched for relevant articles based on the following inclusion criteria: published from 2015 onwards, with an empirical ground, focussing on secondary education, using immersive virtual reality headsets, aimed at formal education and written in English or Dutch. From the initial 863 potentially relevant articles, 33 studies were investigated further, after applying the inclusion criteria. These articles were then charted and analysed closely. Most studies integrate tethered devices and focus on STEMrelated topics. Four distinct research aims could be identified: media comparison, effectiveness, design and classroom integration. Immersive virtual reality generates improved test results, mostly higher than less immersive conditions, but not always significantly higher. Several design elements were tested but often lack a theoretical grounding. Studies set up in an ecological valid classroom setting are scarce. Future research directions are suggested on the base of the findings.