A competitive and partial mediation effect of assessment engagement in the relationship between online rating ability and critical thinking: concurrent and complete mediation effects of assessment engagement constructs

This study aims to validate the mediation effects of assessment engagement and its constructs on the relationship between online rating ability and critical thinking. This study involved graduate students from a university who enrolled in the “Research Methods” course and utilized an online peer assessment system to rate the project report of each other. This study, based on social cognitive theory and self-determination theory, proposes and validates a concurrent mediation model—“online rating ability◊assessment engagement/its constructs◊critical thinking.” The findings are summarized as follows: (1) Rating ability significantly and positively influences assessment engagement, and assessment engagement significantly and positively influences critical thinking. (2) Rating ability significantly and positively influences all four assessment engagement constructs, and assessment behavioral engagement and assessment cognitive engagement significantly and positively influence critical thinking. (3) Rating ability not only significantly and directly influences critical thinking, but also simultaneously exerts a significant indirect influence on critical thinking through assessment engagement (significant indirect effect and partial mediation). (4) Rating ability can exert a significant and indirect influence on critical thinking concurrently through both assessment behavioral engagement and assessment cognitive engagement (significant indirect effect and full mediation); however, at this point, rating ability no longer significantly and directly influences critical thinking, nor does it significantly and indirectly influence critical thinking through assessment emotional engagement and assessment agentic engagement. (5) Assessment engagement exhibits a significant and partially competitive mediation effect in the influence of rating ability on critical thinking, with a substantial mediation effect size. (6) In the concurrent mediation model, assessment behavioral engagement and assessment cognitive engagement both exhibit complete and concurrent mediation effects in the influence of rating ability on critical thinking. The research results provide significant implications for academic theory and educational practices.