Creating a Peer Review Assignment

From Abstract to Concrete: Creating a Peer Review Assignment

If your course analysis and planning revealed the need for an assignment that includes peer review, now it is time to design that assignment. This resource will guide you in creating the peer review components of an assignment. It includes guidance for describing the assignment, clarifying expectations related to peer review, and how to provide feedback. Examples from a course that used peer review are included.

Any assignment design should include:

• A clear description of the assignment
• Learning outcomes
• Evaluation breakdown and criteria
• An outline of what is expected of students
• A rubric or questions and criteria to consider when reviewing a peer’s work
• Procedural or technical information needed to complete the assignment

Information That Goes in the Course Syllabus

Below are items to consider including in your course syllabus. This information may be dispersed among pages such as the “Course Evaluation” page and the “Course Format and Expectations” page.

Assignment description	Evaluation information
General information about the assignment — specific information may go in the module Assignment type: essay, presentation, etc. Associated learning outcomes	Evaluation breakdown — include marks for: participation in peer review peer ratings instructor grading A grading rubric
About peer review	How to use peerScholar
A description or details for each phase of the peer review process Tips on how to critique a peer’s work Tips on how to provide effective feedback to a peer	When using a new technology in a course, it is important for students to have good instructions on how to use the tool or app.

Rubrics

Where possible, include a rubric in a peer review assignment. The rubric will benefit instructors when they configure the assignment and create assessments to use during the peer review, it will benefit students when they complete the assignment, and it will benefit all of those involved in evaluating and providing feedback.

Educational Benefits of Using a Rubric

• Students can score their peer’s work using the rubric
• A rubric can act as a guide in a student’s exploration of their peer’s work
• Using a rubric encourages a discovery mind set
• Students can identify examples of what good work looks like and what poor work looks like
• A good reason for using a rubric when including peer review mark in a student’s overall grade for the assignment:
  • If you average five or more peer-assessments that took place based on a rubric, the average score tends to be a very good estimate of the student’s skill

Making the Rubric Available to Students

Make sure a copy of the rubric is available in Brightspace and peerScholar:

1. Attach a rubric as part of the assignment details in the course syllabus
2. In the Create phase of peerScholar, attach a rubric and refer to the attached rubric in the instructions

Information That Goes in a Module

You can add specific information about an assignment, phase, or deliverable directly in your module or weekly content. Information can include:

• Descriptions and details about a specific topic or deliverable
• Required readings and resources
• Value for the deliverable
• Link to launch the application, if applicable

Resource created by: Denise C.

Originally Published: November 8, 2019

Last Updated: July 16, 2024