Peer feedback is commonly used in higher education, especially when students are engaged in projects or writing papers. Peer feedback is inherently different from teacher feedback because the feedback comes from people with similar levels of expertise who are engaged in similar learning and assessment tasks.
Students play two roles in the peer feedback process: they are both the reviewer and the reviewed. Both roles have value in the learning experience. As reviewers, students practice applying their course-related knowledge and skills as evaluators. They must determine what was done well and what might be improved, and find suitable words to express their assessment. They are also exposed to what others at a similar expertise level are producing, which serves as a benchmark for their own work and provides new ideas. As they reviewed, students benefit from feedback to improve future iterations of their work. When peer review is done on draft-level work, with an opportunity to revise before the teacher grades the work, it can be particularly valuable to students. While peer feedback can be valuable, it also poses challenges. Students alternatively worry about the quality of their work and their feedback, feeling judged on both counts.
In this session, we will discuss the strengths and challenges of the peer feedback process with a specific focus on digital peer review processes. A brief presentation of findings from a recent study about how students feel about being reviewed and being reviewers will be used to illuminate some of the challenges of designing and facilitating a successful peer feedback activity, and the audience will be engaged in a collaborative activity focused on sharing ideas for conducting peer feedback in digital contexts (e.g., use of different tools, guidelines) and identifying how to help students be effective peer reviewers and make effective use of peer reviews.
Vanessa Dennen