(2178) TEACHING STUDENTS TO GIVE AND TO RECEIVE: IMPROVING DISCIPLINARY WRITING THROUGH PEER REVIEW

摘要

This paper describes the multi-disciplinary collaboration of six faculty members who implemented peerreview in order to improve student writing. Each faculty member developed their own assignmentsand peer review process, but followed the same general guidelines. Students submitted drafts topeers who made comments and used a rubric to provide formative feedback. The instructors used avariety of tools to support peer review including Google Drive, Blackboard, and Expertiza, a dedicatedpeer-review system. Students reflected on the peer review process in an online survey after eachround of peer review. The survey results varied considerably between the classes suggesting theimportance of the instructor, assignment, and peer review process, but there were also commonthemes across courses. Quantitative results suggest students valued peer review more when theyknew who they were reviewing and who reviewed them, and that students found the first round of peerreview more helpful than subsequent. Qualitative results differed, showing many students appreciatedthe anonymity provided by computer-supported peer reviews. Students had little tolerance fortechnology that was not intuitive or reliable. In general, students appreciated receiving feedback fromtheir peers, especially comments that were specific and pointed out areas for improvement. They wereless receptive to being graded by peers, especially when low marks were not explained. Studentsliked seeing other students' work as this helped them gauge their performance, but many feltuncomfortable giving critical feedback and expressed concern about their lack of expertise.