Peer feedback in education: a game-changer for student learning or just another classroom gimmick?

Done right, peer feedback can be a powerful tool to:

• Promote active engagement and deeper understanding
• Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Cultivate a supportive learning environment

But where do you start? How do you make sure peer feedback sessions don't devolve into a free-for-all of unhelpful comments and hurt feelings?

In this step-by-step guide, we'll walk you through everything you need to know to implement effective peer feedback strategies in your classroom. From setting clear guidelines to integrating feedback into assessments, you'll learn how to harness the power of peer review to enhance learning outcomes and prepare students for real-world success.

Ready to transform your teaching practice? Let's dive in.

What is Peer Feedback in Education?

• Peer feedback is a collaborative learning strategy where students review and provide constructive feedback on each other's work, promoting active engagement, critical thinking, and skill development under the guidance of educators.
• It can take various forms, such as written comments, oral discussions, or online critique sessions.

Peer feedback in education is a powerful tool that empowers students to actively participate in the learning process. By reviewing and providing constructive feedback on each other's work, students develop critical thinking skills, gain insights from diverse perspectives, and learn to communicate effectively.

Examples of Peer Feedback in the Classroom

Peer feedback can be implemented in various educational settings, from elementary school to higher education. Some common examples include:

Peer review sessions: Before delivering a presentation, students can practice in front of their peers and receive feedback on their content, delivery, and visual aids. This process helps students build confidence, improve their public speaking skills, and refine their presentations based on constructive criticism.

Writing workshops: Students critique each other's essays, offering suggestions for improvement in terms of content, structure, and style. This collaborative process helps students refine their writing skills and learn from their peers' strengths and weaknesses.

Group member review: When working on collaborative assignments, students can provide peer evaluations to assess each team member's contributions, communication skills, and overall performance. This feedback helps students develop accountability, teamwork, and leadership abilities.

Types of Peer Feedback

Peer feedback can take various forms, each with its own advantages and challenges. Let's explore the three main types of peer feedback: written, oral, and online.

Online Feedback

With the increasing use of technology in education, online feedback has become a popular and convenient option. This can include:

• Comments on digital documents or submissions: Students can provide feedback on their peers' work using collaborative tools like Teachfloor, Eduflow, or other LMSs supporting peer feedback. These platforms allow for real-time comments, suggestions, and discussions.‍
• Discussion forums or peer review tools: Educators can set up online discussion forums or use dedicated peer review tools like Teachfloor or Eduflow where students can post their work, review their peers' assignments, and engage in asynchronous conversations. This approach is particularly useful for large classes or distance learning programs.

Online feedback offers flexibility, accessibility, and the ability to provide multimedia resources, such as links to relevant articles or videos, to support the feedback process.

Written Feedback

Written feedback involves students providing comments, suggestions, and critiques on their peers' work in a written format. This can include:

• Comments on papers, reports, or assignments: Students review each other's written work and provide detailed feedback on content, structure, grammar, and style. They may use annotation tools, comment features, or feedback forms to convey their suggestions.‍
• Feedback forms or rubrics: Educators can provide structured feedback forms or rubrics that guide students in assessing specific aspects of their peers' work, such as clarity, organization, and adherence to assignment guidelines. This approach ensures that feedback is focused and consistent across the class.

Written feedback allows for a more in-depth analysis of the work and provides a record that students can refer to as they revise and improve their assignments.

Oral Feedback

Oral feedback involves students discussing and critiquing each other's work through in-person or virtual conversations. This can include:

• In-class discussions and critique sessions: Students present their work to the class and receive immediate feedback from their peers. This format encourages active participation, facilitates the exchange of ideas, and helps students develop their communication and active listening skills.‍
• One-on-one peer conferences: Students pair up and discuss each other's work in a more intimate setting. This approach allows for more personalized and detailed feedback, as students can ask questions, clarify points, and brainstorm ideas together.

Oral feedback promotes dialogue, collaboration, and the development of interpersonal skills, which are essential for success in both academic and professional settings.

Benefits of Peer Feedback in Education

Peer feedback has emerged as a valuable instructional tool, promoting a dynamic and collaborative learning environment.  Research has demonstrated its effectiveness in increasing student engagement, critical thinking, communication skills, and overall academic achievement.

Here's how incorporating peer feedback can benefit your classroom:

Reflection

Engaging in peer feedback encourages students to reflect on their own work by comparing it with their peers' efforts. This reflection helps students identify areas for improvement and enhances their learning more than receiving feedback alone.

Reduced Workload for Teachers

One significant advantage of peer feedback is the dual benefit it offers to both students and teachers. When students provide feedback to each other, teachers have more time to focus on other important tasks. These tasks include moderating the feedback process, helping students who are struggling, or dedicating time to one-on-one sessions that were previously spent on grading.

Enhanced Feedback Quality

When a single teacher is responsible for providing feedback to many students, the quality and specificity of the feedback often decline. By involving students in the feedback process, the volume and variety of feedback increase substantially. Students benefit from multiple perspectives and insights, which can be particularly valuable since their peers have recently completed the same assignments and can relate closely to the challenges and content. Peer feedback is also typically more timely than teacher feedback, which enhances the revision process and makes it more effective. Research indicates that timely feedback is crucial for maximizing its effectiveness.

Higher Order Thinking

Engaging in peer feedback requires students to utilize higher-order thinking skills. As they evaluate their peers' work, compare it with rubric criteria, and formulate constructive feedback, they engage in complex cognitive processes such as analysis, evaluation, and creation. This practice aligns with the upper levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, enhancing students' critical thinking abilities.

Developing 21st Century Skills

The term "21st-century skills" encompasses essential abilities such as collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. These skills have always been important but have gained even greater significance in today's job market, where many tasks are automated. Employers now prioritize these skills over technical or computer skills. A survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers highlights that leadership, teamwork, communication, and problem-solving are among the most sought-after skills.

Peer feedback fosters the development of these 21st-century skills through activities like peer tutoring, collaborative learning, and metacognition (reflecting on learning). These elements work together to enhance the learning experience and prepare students for future academic and professional success.

Peer Feedback Strategies for Teachers

TL;DR:

• Scaffold the feedback process to support student learning
• Use diverse feedback formats to engage all learners
• Integrate peer feedback into formative and summative assessments

Breaking Down the Process:

When introducing peer feedback, break it down into smaller, manageable steps. This allows students to grasp the key components of effective feedback and focus on one aspect at a time. Start by teaching them to identify strengths in their peers' work before moving on to areas for improvement.

Clear Guidelines and Rubrics:

To facilitate this process, provide students with clear guidelines and rubrics outlining the specific criteria for each step. This "scaffolding" helps them develop a systematic approach to giving and receiving feedback, making it less daunting and more accessible.

Empowering Student Autonomy:

As students become comfortable, gradually increase their autonomy in giving feedback. Initially, provide structured templates or sentence starters like "I really liked how you..." (identifying strengths) or "One way you could improve this is..." (areas for improvement). Over time, encourage them to develop their own feedback style while adhering to the principles of effective feedback.

Modeling and Discussion:

To support this transition, model effective feedback techniques and engage students in discussions about the characteristics of helpful feedback. As students gain confidence and proficiency, reduce the level of scaffolding and allow for more open-ended feedback sessions.

Implementing  Peer Feedback in the Classroom with Teachfloor

Peer feedback offers a wealth of benefits, but its effectiveness hinges on a well-structured approach. This guide explores how Teachfloor empowers you to transform peer feedback from a logistical hurdle into a dynamic learning experience, fostering collaboration, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

1. Shared Goals and Clear Expectations

The foundation for successful peer feedback is established by clearly communicating the learning objectives and the purpose of the exercise to your students. Emphasize the value of constructive criticism and mutual learning, fostering a growth mindset within the classroom.  Establish clear guidelines for providing specific and actionable feedback, ensuring its effectiveness.

2. Customized Rubrics

Teachfloor's intuitive rubric creation tool allows you to design customized rubrics that seamlessly align with your learning objectives.  This ensures that the feedback students provide is targeted and directly addresses the key elements of the assignment.  Within these rubrics, incorporate a variety of question formats to cater to diverse learning styles:

Open-ended prompts: Encourage students to delve into critical analysis, prompting them to consider the clarity of arguments, the effectiveness of creative execution, or the overall structure of their peers' work.

Numeric ratings: Provide a mechanism for quick feedback on specific elements such as technical accuracy or adherence to formatting guidelines.

Text scales with descriptive anchors: Offer clear guidance for subjective criteria, allowing students to provide constructive feedback on aspects like presentation style or the use of language.

3. Streamlining Peer Feedback Process

Teachfloor Sequences eliminate the guesswork from implementing peer feedback.  This feature structures the process into distinct stages, guiding students through a focused and impactful learning experience:

Submission: Students have a dedicated space to showcase their work, laying the foundation for the peer review process.

Peer Review:  Armed with the customized rubrics, students provide constructive feedback on their peers' submissions.

Feedback Reflection:  This stage is crucial for deep learning.  Utilizing Teachfloor's prompting options, students delve into the feedback received, prompting self-analysis and a deeper understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.

(Optional) Self-Review: Empower students to take ownership of their learning journey by incorporating an optional self-review stage. Here, students critically re-evaluate their work based on the feedback received and the course objectives, fostering self-directed learning.

4. Self-Reflection and Revision

Following the peer review stage, guide students in reflecting on the feedback using Teachfloor's prompts. Encourage them to view revision as an opportunity to improve and refine their skills, not simply a task to complete.  By fostering a growth mindset and emphasizing the importance of self-reflection, students can truly benefit from the insights gleaned from their peers.

By implementing Teachfloor's approach to peer feedback, you can create a dynamic learning environment that fosters collaboration, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the subject matter.  Imagine your classroom transformed – no longer a passive lecture hall, but a vibrant hub of intellectual exchange where students actively participate in shaping their own learning and emerge as empowered individuals with a thirst for knowledge.

Empowering Students Through Collaborative Learning

Peer feedback transforms classrooms into vibrant hubs of collaboration, fostering critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving skills. Effective peer feedback requires clear guidelines, modeling, and structured sessions.

It's not just about grades—peer feedback empowers students to take ownership of their education and build confidence in constructive criticism. By integrating peer feedback, you prepare students for success in a world that values teamwork and continuous growth.

How will you incorporate peer feedback in your classroom? Share your strategies and let's unlock the full potential of peer learning together.