Lack of interest? Self and peer assessment as a means to improve students' engagement

In their first year of university, students perceive some courses as least related to their degree, and hence, show a lack of motivation in them, dedicating more time to those that they consider as more related to their degree. This leads to a decrease in students' performance in these courses, even when they have sufficient capacity to do well. Moreover, it is observed that students are not aware of their knowledge level regarding the course content and generally overestimate it. This paper presents a method to increase students' engagement in parts of the courses that are most difficult. This method was tested in one course, and the results support its effectiveness.