Using Student Writing Reflections to Inform Our Understanding of Feedback Receptivity

Abstract

This study explores the reflections of 27 native and high-proficiency English-speaking students in two sections of a six-week U.S. college undergraduate content/writing course, to determine what factors influence student receptivity to peer feedback. Reflections stemmed from weekly writing journals designed to enhance process writing skill development, and assessed how amenable students were to peer feedback. Subsequent qualitative analyses resulted in four significant student-generated orientations, each with substantial potential to inform peer review as a component of classroom process writing. The four orientations were: a) overall value orientations; b) interpersonal assessment orientations; c) feedback level orientations; and d) critical assessment orientations. Based upon these findings, several suggestions for improving peer review classroom pedagogy are explored, resulting in implications for enhancing peer review practices more generally and the subsequent reception of student feedback, with relevance for L1 and L2 writing instructional contexts.