A case study of the development of WebPA: An online peer-moderated marking tool Steve Loddington, Keith Pond, Nicola Wilkinson and Peter Willmot Steve Loddington is a Research Associate; Keith Pond is a Senior Lecturer in the Business School; Nicola Wilkinson is eLearning Systems Developer both based in the Engineering Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning; Peter Willmot is Principal University Teacher in the School of Mechanical and Manufac- turing Engineering. Address for correspondence: Nicola Wilkinson, Engineering Centre for Excellence in Teaching and learning, Loughborough University, LE11 3TU, UK. Email: n.wilkinson@lboro.ac.uk. Abstract Peer moderation of group work in higher education is rapidly advancing through the use of technological developments and is increasingly being informed by pedagogical research. The highly successful WebPA online assess- ment system has gone through a number of development phases over its 15-year history and has now evolved into a relatively mature and flexible tool for facilitating group work. This paper presents a case study of the approaches that have been used in the system’s development from the technical perspec- tive, and describes how the scope of the project has massively expanded and that the development has been continually backed by a sound and wide- ranging pedagogy. The benefits of using the online system are shown to be underpinned throughout by examples of good practice in the supervision of academic group work. A critical evaluation of the tool and surrounding peda- gogical practices highlight future areas for technical expansion. Introduction to peer-moderated marking The term peer-moderated marking is used, in this instance, to describe the process undertaken by students to assess the performance of themselves and their peer group in relation to a group task or a series of tasks. The process generates individual team member ‘weighting factors’ from the students’ input data that are used to vary (mod- erate) group marks, which are assessed and allocated by academic supervisors in the usual way.The claimed result is individually weighted marks that are fairer and more apposite for each individual student. WebPA is a computer-based tool, developed at Loughborough University over a period of nearly 15 years, to automate and promote the process. While the benefits of student-centred teamwork are heavily promoted by contemporary pedagogy, allocating fair and equitable degree marks for group efforts remains a major British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 40 No 2 2009 329–341 doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2008.00922.x © 2009 Loughborough University. Journal compilation © 2009 Becta. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.