In this blog post, we will look at whether the peer evaluation system is the best way to solve the problem of free-riding that frequently occurs in group assignments.
There is a popular Korean webtoon that resonated with many college students and was even made into a drama a few months ago. The webtoon is called “Cheese in the Trap.” The main character, Hong Seol, has to get a scholarship for her grades every semester because her family is in a difficult situation. For Hong Seol, group assignments were literally a word that meant hell. Let me introduce one of the most memorable scenes in the drama. Hong Seol had to do a group assignment that four people should have done because the members of the group used her, who had no choice but to live hard, to do all their work. Hong Seol made and provided the presentation script by herself, but she received a low grade of D because her teammates did not fully understand the content on the day of the presentation. Frustrated, Hong Seol told the professor that she had worked really hard on the assignment, but she was told that “the problem is that you try to solve everything by yourself without communicating with others.” Watching this scene made me think about the best way to solve the problem of free-riding in group assignments so that no one else would end up like Hong Seol. I also thought about why we should live properly without free-riding like Hong Seol.
I think the best way to solve the problem of free-riding in group assignments is to have a member evaluation system. The rating system can be operated in a similar way to the way lectures are rated on Papyrus, a lecture evaluation site of Seoul National University. If students who took the same lecture are given the right to rate it on a five-point scale and are asked to write comments such as “I was late or absent several times from the class meeting” and “I did not research the data for my part,” a more accurate evaluation will be possible. These evaluations are required to be entered into eTL along with the student’s name and department information so that the highest-rated students can be placed in groups in the next class in order.
The reason why the rating system is the best method is that it can have a positive effect on both high and low-rated students. High-rated students are given the choice when it comes to forming new groups, so students with high ratings who are generally guaranteed to be diligent will tend to be in the same group. In groups with diligent students, there will be fewer free-riders. Because all the members work hard, they may feel like “I’m just one person,” and have the urge to take a free ride, but in such cases, the prospect of receiving a low score in the next member evaluation and being put in the same group as the unfaithful members will suppress the urge and make them work diligently. Therefore, all members of the group will be able to carry out their responsibilities in a responsible manner and work together without causing any harm to anyone.
Students with low grades are more likely to be left out of the group selection process, so there is a high probability that students with low grades will be in the same group. In this case, two things can happen. The first is that all members of the group do not participate in the group activities. In this case, all members of the group will receive a low grade of D or below, but at least there will be no students who receive a low grade unfairly due to the absence of other group members. The second is when a member who received a low grade in the previous group to avoid the worst-case scenario of receiving a low grade in both groups actively participates in the activity. In the previous group, even if he or she did not do the assigned work, someone else might have done it and received a high grade, but in the new group, no one is working hard, so he or she will be forced to participate in the activity diligently to avoid taking the course again or receiving a very low grade. In the drama “Cheese in the Trap,” a character named Sang-cheol, who always makes an excuse that he is busy and puts the group assignment on Hong-seol, appeared and angered many viewers. The biggest reason why free-riding occurs in group activities is probably because people assume that someone will do their share even if they don’t have to. The way to get these people to participate in group activities is to create an environment where no one can pass their tasks on to someone else. If a student who received a low evaluation works hard in a new group, they will receive a high score in the group evaluation and will be able to join a group with more diligent students next time, making it easier to participate in activities.
Living right means living a good and moral life and benefiting others, so it can be assumed that it is the same as living well. Living right benefits others, but it may not benefit oneself or even cause damage. Nevertheless, is it right to act right? The answer is “yes.” The reason we think that we will be harmed if we behave correctly is that we only consider narrow-sense benefits and not broad-sense benefits. Narrow-sense benefits are short-term, direct, and material, while broad-sense benefits are long-term, indirect, and mental. Therefore, the reason we should live correctly is that broad-sense benefits will eventually come back to us.
The first reason why we should live a good life can be explained through the “like attracts like” hypothesis. The theory of like attracts like states that good people tend to gather and interact with other good people, creating an environment that is suitable for maintaining or evolving their traits. To use the group project evaluation system as an analogy, after the group project is over, the group evaluation is conducted, and the people with the highest evaluation scores are assigned to groups. Those with high scores are placed in the same group with those with high scores, and those with low scores are placed in the same group with those with low scores. It is extremely rare that someone who receives a high score in the peer evaluation system would want to be in the same group as someone who receives a low score. If you want to be in the same group as diligent people and receive a fair reward for your efforts, you must first become a diligent person who receives a high score in the peer evaluation. If you apply this to your daily life, it means that if you want to have good friends and good people as acquaintances, you must first become a good person. Having good people as acquaintances does not directly benefit you financially, but it is beneficial in the long run, so it can be said to be a benefit in a broad sense.
The second reason why we should live correctly can be explained by the “Signaling-at-a-Cost Hypothesis.” The Signaling-at-a-Cost Hypothesis explains that people’s altruistic acts are not just acts of devotion, but acts with the purpose of gaining the recognition or trust of others. According to this hypothesis, people spend money and effort to show off their altruistic acts, such as donations or volunteer work, which others cannot easily do. For example, beggars often beg on streets where there are many young couples, because even if they lose a few dollars, the act of charity is an opportunity to show their economic wealth and morality to the opposite sex. Sending expensive signals An example of a hypothesis can also be found in animals. The larger and more colorful the tail feathers of a male peacock, the more likely it is to be targeted by predators. However, even with colorful feathers, surviving predators is a sign that the peacock is more capable than other males. Therefore, the peacock proves its superiority to other males to avoid unnecessary fights and increases its chances of being chosen as a partner by females.
If we compare this to the evaluation system for a project, students are trying to get a high grade in the evaluation of their group members by paying the “price” of time and effort, such as thoroughly researching the data for their part of the project, coming to group meetings early and preparing for the meeting, and making sure that other group members recognize their diligence. On the contrary, members who do not participate in group activities diligently will constantly send negative signals, and eventually be ostracized by others because of their negative perception. Living correctly, that is, participating in group activities diligently and taking on others’ responsibilities when necessary, may not seem to benefit you in the short term. However, in the long run, he will leave an invisible mark of good impression by making other members of the community aware of his integrity, and eventually gain the trust and credibility of others, which will lead to benefits in a broader sense.
Suppose there is a society where people with water and people with food are mixed. Since both water and food are necessary for survival, humans can survive only if they have both. If those who have water and those who have food give up what they have and share it fairly, everyone can survive together. However, if those who have water are selfish and do not want to share their water but only want the food that others have, those who do not receive food but only water will die, and selfish individuals will have a higher chance of surviving. This seems to be a short-term situation in which selfish people benefit and altruistic people suffer. However, if this situation repeats itself, the number of people with food will decrease over time, increasing the mortality rate of people with water who can survive by exchanging it, and ultimately the entire society will suffer great damage. Therefore, we must live correctly to create an altruistic society and gain indirect and long-term benefits.
So far, we have learned about the most efficient way to prevent free-riding, the quota system, and based on that, we have looked at the reasons why we should live correctly. The quota system is the most efficient way to prevent free-riding because the results of the evaluation affect the next group formation, which has a positive impact on both those who have and have not free-ridden. The “Birds of a Feather Hypothesis,” “Signaling Costly Hypothesis,” and “Social Interest” that are presented as reasons to live correctly all mean that when you do the right thing, you will eventually receive long-term and indirect benefits, which is why you should live correctly. Humans are social animals, so they can only become true humans by pursuing the broad benefits that will come to them someday rather than the narrow benefits in front of them right now.
