2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Promoting Equitable Accountability in STEM COIL through Multi-Source Peer Assessment

Presented at Multidisciplinary Engineering Division (MULTI) Technical Session 4: Perceptions, Assessment and Impact in Multidisciplinary Education I

Group-based learning in engineering education fosters technical competence and teamwork skills; however, assessment practices often struggle to ensure individual accountability, leading to grading bias and uneven participation. This study implements a multi-source peer assessment model in a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program jointly conducted by Shibaura Institute of Technology (Japan) and Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (Indonesia). The whole 14-week hybrid online–onsite physics course (Magnetism and Magnetic Materials) was embedded within an interdisciplinary COIL module that integrated STEM content. Additionally, the humanities perspectives through a two-week collaboration with a History of Japan module, broadening the notion of “contribution” beyond technical problem-solving. To promote fairness, a weighted scoring model was developed, integrating within-group peer evaluations (20%), cross-group peer evaluations (10%), Indonesia-based instructor evaluations (30%), and Japan-based physics lead instructor evaluations (40%). The model was compared with a conventional instructor-only assessment approach using data from two cohorts: FY2024 (n=21) and FY2025 (n=30). Instructor-only averages exceeded peer-inclusive adjusted scores by approximately 2–5 points across cohorts, suggesting grade inflation under single-source evaluation. Statistical analysis showed significant differences (p < 0.01) across both academic years, while maintaining strong correlation (r > 0.87) and rank-order stability (ρ > 0.82). These findings indicate meaningful score correction without substantially altering performance ranking. The proposed multi-source model reduces reliance on a single evaluator, enhances transparency of individual contributions in collaborative contexts, and offers an empirically validated assessment framework for interdisciplinary, cross-institutional STEM COIL environments—an area that remains underexplored in engineering education research.

Authors

Dr. Dita Puspita Sari Innovative Global Program, Shibaura Institute of Technology [biography]

Dita Puspita Sari is an Associate Professor in the Innovative Global Program at Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan, and a Visiting Scientist at the RIKEN Nishina Center. She received her Ph.D. in Physics from Osaka University in 2018. Her research focuses on strongly correlated electron systems, particularly organic superconductors, using muon spin rotation (μSR) and complementary experimental and computational approaches. In addition to condensed matter physics, she is actively engaged in interdisciplinary STEM education research, including Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) and data-driven assessment methods. She has experience collaborating with international research facilities such as RIKEN in Japan, ISIS in the United Kingdom, Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) in Switzerland, and TRIUMF in Canada, and her work spans both fundamental physics and global engineering education.
Prof. Darminto Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember [biography]

Darminto graduated from the doctoral program in Physics at the Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia, in 2001, and continued with a post-doctoral research program at Twente University, The Netherlands, from 2001 to 2003. Upon returning, he became a lecturer in the Physics Department at ITS and was appointed as a professor of condensed matter physics in 2011. He served as the university’s vice president for research and partnership (2011-2015), the director of the Institute of Research and Community Engagement (2011-2015), and the executive secretary of the Board of Trustees (2016-2021).
Previously, he participated in research internship programs at the Vienna University of Technology (1997), the University of Amsterdam (1998), and the University of Tokyo (1999). He has collaborated with RIKEN Nishina Center since 2007, the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) in Berlin, Germany, since 2013, and the Synchrotron Light Research Institute in Thailand since 2016. Additionally, he has networked with numerous universities in Japan, Taiwan, Southeast Asian countries, and Germany. These collaborations have been financially supported by national and international research grants.
He has supervised hundreds of undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students, resulting in approximately 500 publications, including articles, posters, books, chapters, and scientific and academic reports. His research interests lie in condensed matter physics, encompassing superconductivity, magneto-electronics, nanomaterials, and 2D materials.
He is a member of the Indonesian Physical Society, the Materials Research Society of Indonesia, the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Association of Advanced Materials, and the International Solar Energy Society. He also served as the President of the Indonesian Magnetics Society (2018-2020).
Gabriele Trovato [biography]

Gabriele Trovato is currently Associate Professor in Shibaura Institute of Technology, where he leads LAB 22, as well as Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of Palermo, Italy, International Co-Investigator at the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), and Visiting Researcher in Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.

He received his M.S. degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Pisa, Italy, and Ph.D. degree in Biorobotics in Waseda University. Within the relations between the two countries, Gabriele Trovato has been in the organising committee of Italy-Japan Workshops since 2011, and has been appointed "Ambassador of Livorno in the world" by the Municipality of Livorno, Italy.

He has been Visiting Researcher in Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany), PUCP (Peru) and Imperial College London (UK) among others.

Gabriele Trovato has worked in the video game industry, being involved in the development of the world-wide known game series "Sid Meier's Civilization" and having created popular innovative mods for the game.

His main research interests are interdisciplinary and include Human-Robot Interaction, with focus on culture and religion related aspects, artificial emotions in humanoids, and robot aesthetics.

Gabriele Trovato's creations, such as SanTO robots, are a combination of engineering, AI, art and humanities, and raised interest among the worldwide press, including the Wall Street Journal and the BBC.
Sumito Nagasawa http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4684-2898 [biography]

Dr. Sumito Nagasawa received Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Tokyo in 2001. He is a Professor in Adv. Mech. Eng. Course, Mech. Eng. Program, College of Engineering in Shibaura Institute of Technology. His main research topic is the development and application of small robots using Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems technologies (MEMS) technologies. In the field of engineering education, he focuses on experiential learning using robotics technology, including learning support based on embedded systems and sensor measurement, as well as the development of practical educational methods for PBL-based courses and international collaborative programs. He also conducts research on methods for evaluating learning processes and educational outcomes in group work.
Eiji Kamioka [biography]

Eiji Kamioka (Member, IEEE) is currently a Professor and a Deputy President at the Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT). He also leads the initiative of implementing COILs at SIT. Before joining SIT, he was with the Sharp Communication Laboratory, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) as a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and the National Institute of Informatics (NII) as an Assistant Professor. His research interests encompass user-friendly information and communication systems, such as mobile multimedia communication and intelligent information systems. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in physics from Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan.
Prof. Hatsuko Yoshikubo Ph.D. Shibaura Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Hatsuko Yoshikubo is a Professor of Humanities in the Innovative Global Program at the College of Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology, a leading engineering university in Tokyo, Japan, where she leads the Smart Education for Creative Engineers Laboratory (SECE Lab). She earned her Ph.D. in English Literature from Chiba University in 2002. Her research explores the value of incorporating humanities into science and engineering curricula, innovative assessment strategies in hybrid and international learning environments, and collaborative learning and assessment in global and COIL-based engineering education contexts, with a recent focus on AI-enhanced learning, data-driven assessment, and interdisciplinary engineering education design. She currently leads a research project funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 24K06133, 2024–2027). She has presented her work at major international conferences including ASEE, WERA, BERA, IIAI-DSIR, and APAIE. Her work has been recognized with multiple awards, including the ASEE Best Diversity Paper Award (2023), the DSIR Outstanding Paper Award (2021), SIT’s Presidential Award (2023), and recent recognitions including the 20th Kanto Society for Engineering Education Award (Best Paper/Essay Award) and the JSEE Annual Conference International Session Award (2025).

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