Peer Review

Day 1

1. Explain the purpose of the peer review activity and share tips on giving effective feedback (i.e. feedback that is actually used to make improvements). You can present the SPORT Framework.   SPORT is an acronym and stands for Start with a summary; Prioritise; Offer examples; Recommend solutions; and Tell them why.
2. Facilitate a norming session. Distribute a sample assignment and have students assess it, using the Peer Review Form.  Then, lead students through a discussion of why they chose the ratings they did.  The aim of this discussion is to reach consensus on the meaning of each criterion in the rubric and on how to write a constructive comment.
3. Ask each student to assess another student’s work, using the Peer Review Form.
4. Collect students’ peer review forms and redistribute them, so each student receives peer feedback on their work.

Day 2

• Give students time to review the feedback they received. If students received feedback from multiple people, you might invite them to invite them to fill out the Prioritising Revisions  This worksheet asks students to consider each of the recommendations they received and decide if it is important/not important and challenging/not challenging to implement. 
• Bring the class together and invite students to reflect on what they learned from the peer review process. In small classes, teachers might facilitate a circle discussion, inviting each student to share the most important thing they got out of the peer review activity.  In larger classes, teachers might ask for a few volunteers to share their thoughts.
• Wrap up the lesson by summarizing the key takeaways from the peer review activity. Here are a few points you may wish to emphasize:
  • The ability to give and receive constructive criticism is important not only in school, but also in the workplace and in relationships with family members and friends.
  • Sometimes, we get conflicting perspectives or advice on our work. Ultimately, it is up to the original author/creator to decide what to do with the feedback they receive.

Students’ peer review forms can be graded pass/fail based on whether or not the following criteria are met.  If any of these criteria are not met, students may be invited to re-submit (for a maximum grade of 4/5).

• The rubric is complete
• The comment is complete (summary + identification of two issues to fix + recommendations of how to fix them) 
• Long enough to make your point (150-300 words) 
• Has an authoritative tone, does not insult the original author 

Having to share their work with their peers might make some students feel anxious.  Here are some strategies teachers can use to help students feel safer during the peer review activity:

• Naming the emotions that students might be feeling and explaining that they are common and understandable responses.
• Emphasizing that you believe in students’ abilities. You might say, “I’m inviting you to participate in this peer review process because I believe in you and in your ability to grow as a writer/scientist/critical thinker.”

Teachers might choose to design assignment rubrics in collaboration with students.  Collaborative rubric design is one way of fostering democratic learning communities that value students’ experiences and goals.  Rachel Dineen and Lyda McCartin’s (2019) book chapter, An Unfinished Journey Towards a Democratic Information Literacy Classroom offers helpful reflections on why and how to involve students in designing assessment criteria.

Teachers might assign two or more peer reviews to each student, to ensure each student receives feedback from more than one person.  Different people can – and often do – have different responses to the same work. 

The teacher can also fill out a peer review form, that gets shared alongside student reviews.  Teachers might consider anonymizing the review forms to encourage students to consider all the feedback they received (not only the teacher’s feedback).

Teachers might invite students to write back to their reviewer(s), thanking them for their feedback and telling them what changes they are making based on the reviewer’s comments.

• Responding to Papers: Ways that Work from The Critical Thinking Institute
• Empowering Students Through Specs Grading by Sally Hang