2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The engineering design process in environmental engineering and sustainability often requires students to work in teams, yet team performance and cohesion can vary widely. Peer feedback has been proposed as a mechanism to enhance both accountability and collaboration, but its effects on learning outcomes and group dynamics remain debated. This study investigates whether varying the intensity of peer feedback meaningfully influences group cohesiveness and individual performance in an undergraduate engineering design course.

Students (n=166 across ten cohort sections) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: control (no feedback), limited feedback (numeric survey only), or extensive feedback (numeric survey plus written comments). Approximately 30% of course points were allocated to team-based design work centered on water, sanitation, and health scenarios in a low-income country. To assess outcomes, students completed pre- and post-quizzes aligned to a targeted learning objective, participated in team projects, and immediately responded to a questionnaire measuring perceptions of team cohesion.

Quantitative data from quizzes, project scores, and cohesion surveys were analyzed to test for statistically significant differences across the three feedback conditions. The design controls for instructor variability and grading methods to better isolate the effect of peer feedback on team processes and individual learning. Results indicated no statistically significant differences in individual learning outcomes or team cohesion across feedback conditions, with effect sizes suggesting minimal practical impact.

These findings suggest that increasing the intensity of peer feedback, as implemented in this study, does not substantially influence short-term learning gains or perceived team cohesion. These insights are valuable for engineering educators seeking to optimize team-based learning environments and may inform best practices in environmental engineering and sustainability education.

I am an untenured faculty member within the first four years of total academic experience, lead author of the paper, and eligible for the Environmental Engineering Division Early Career Award.