Online Peer Feedback Research Articles

Online peer consulting for health professionals.

Many health care professionals specialise in particular medical fields. Nevertheless, they often encounter patients with other indications for which they have only limited experience. In such situations it is helpful to consult colleagues who have specialised in the respective areas. The Internet provides the opportunity to connect with other specialists that can be used for peer consulting. We argue that health professionals should learn to make use of online peer consulting during vocational training. We used an open-source platform that provided the opportunity to chat and upload documents. We recruited 45 first-year physiotherapy students as participants. The training for online peer consulting was integrated into courses where students were taught basic principles of gait analysis and learned how to document the findings of their examinations. Subsequently, the students evaluated the course and the online collaboration. Students were highly motivated to use the online platform and perceived the online peer consulting and the atmosphere of collaboration on the platform to be very positive. In addition, students had a significant increase in content knowledge and were more confident in their own knowledge than they were before the online peer consulting. It seems appropriate to provide training for giving and gathering online peer feedback. This opportunity, provided at an early stage of training, could help prepare students for continuing co-operative exchange in their professional lives. Health care professionals should learn how to gather information from colleagues and how to provide adequate feedback.

The Effect of Online Feedback Types on Foreign Language Writing

In this study a comparison is made concerning the effect of online teacher feedback and online peer feedback on foreign language writing and the learners’ attitudes toward online feedbacks. To address the issues, an experiment is carried out between two university classes, who received online teacher feedback and online teacher feedback respectively. Based on the analysis, the major findings are obtained as follows. Firstly, the writing in each group has been improved significantly after the application of online feedback. However, no significant difference is shown between groups A and B. Secondly, students in both groups can incorporate feedback into their revisions, though there exist some differences in the number of successful revisions and kinds of revisions between the two groups. Finally, both online teacher feedback and online peer feedback are very well received by most students respectively. The research findings indicate that online feedback should be adopted in foreign language writing teaching.

Blended Learning Strategies for Engaging Diverse Student Cohorts in Higher Education

This article explores blended learning strategies within teaching and learning higher education as a channel of addressing learner diversity. Three case studies were critically examined to highlight the efficacy of various blended learning techniques to improve students' learning experience. These blended learning techniques include online peer and staff feedback for formative assessment; online video and audio feedback for summative assessment; and a flipped classroom teaching model. Culturally, educationally, and socially diverse first year student cohorts participated in this study to provide insight into the advantages and disadvantages of each blended learning technique. Data on the effectiveness of these pedagogical and technological innovations were gathered through online surveys to address students' reflection of learning experience. Findings of these case studies are significant in light of the growing diversity found within student cohorts in higher education; as well as an increase in technology-driven teaching innovation and student-centred learning techniques.

THE IMPACT OF ONLINE PEER FEEDBACK ON EFL STUDENTS’ WRITING AT TERTIARY LEVEL

AbstractThe need for supporting the practice of teaching English as Foreign Language (EFL) writing at tertiary level has been the major concern for researchers and practitioners. Peer feedback has received much attention since its effectiveness in enhancing students’ writing ability. However, English teachers have often encountered time constraints and large class during the writing process. Currently, Facebook becomes one of the most popular social network site (SNS) in Indonesia and has been a very potential platform to help English teachers to facilitate learning. This paper attempts to confirm whether the use of Facebook as a medium of peer feedback outside the classroom can improve EFL Students’ Writing ability. The subjects were 81 undergraduate students studying Essay Writing which is a compulsory subject in English Department in Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia. The subjects then were randomly assigned into experimental group and control group. The experiment lasted for eight weeks started with pre-test in the beginning and ended with a post-test in the last meeting. During the treatment, the teacher applied planning, drafting, revising and editing stages and online learning with Facebook as the medium to facilitate the students’ peer feedback. The result shows online peer feedback with Facebook may be used as an effective instructional media. It could help students improve their writing ability as well as critical thinking.
 Keywords: Facebook, Writing Ability, Tertiary Level, Online Peer Feedback

The effects of online peer feedback and epistemic beliefs on students’ argumentation-based learning

Although the importance of students’ argumentative peer feedback for learning is undeniable, there is a need for further empirical evidence on whether and how it is related to various aspects of argumentation-based learning namely argumentative essay writing, domain-specific learning, and attitudinal change while considering their epistemic beliefs which are known to be related to argumentation. In this study, a pre-test–post-test design was conducted with 42 higher education students who were asked to write an argumentative essay on the GMOs, engage in argumentative feedback, and revise their essay. The results showed that argumentative peer feedback improves students’ argumentative essay writing and domain-specific learning. Furthermore, argumentative peer feedback caused attitudinal change. However, findings did not prove any impact of students’ epistemic beliefs on argumentation-based learning. This is against broadly shared theoretical assumption that argumentation-based learning is related to students’ epistemic beliefs. We discuss these results and provide an agenda for future work.

Engaging EFL Learners in Online Peer Feedback on Writing: What Does It Tell Us?

Aim/Purpose: The current case study aimed to investigate the engagement of nine English as foreign language (EFL) learners in online peer feedback on writing in a Facebook group. Specifically, the study focused on the issues of writing addressed in peer feedback and the learners’ perception of peer feedback in the Facebook group. Background: Peer feedback on writing has attracted the attention of many researchers and instructors of writing in English as second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) contexts. More recently, the application of synchronous and asynchronous technologies, including Facebook, has been reported to foster ESL/EFL learners’ engagement in peer feedback. Yet, in the EFL university context, the teacher/instructor still represents the sole resource of feedback, while learners are only passive receivers of feedback. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage EFL learners to be providers of feedback by engaging them in peer work in writing. Methodology: The study was conducted among nine EFL Arab learners beyond the university writing course. As an extension to enhance their writing in the Facebook group, the activities of peer feedback reported in this study were monitored by the course instructor for three months. The learners’ interactional feedback exchanges, text revisions, and written reflections were qualitatively analyzed and the patterns of interaction were quantified. Contribution: The findings contribute to the previous body of knowledge about the role of peer feedback, as well as the application of how asynchronous technological tools such as Facebook facilitate learners’ interactional feedback exchanges in writing. Findings: The learners engaged in interactional feedback exchanges in the revision-oriented discourse (n=1100 (64%)). These comments triggered global text revisions focusing on content, organization, and argumentative genre (n=533 (31%)) and local text revisions focusing on language and mechanics/conventions (n=567 (33%)). The learners also engaged in the non-revision-oriented discourse (n=620 (36%)) that focused on establishing group cohesion in terms of a friendly social context, social support, socialization, social ties, and attachment among them. The learners also perceived the Facebook group as an interactive learning environment that facilitates their peer feedback on writing beyond the university context. Recommendations for Practitioners: The findings of the current study underlie useful pedagogical implications for EFL instructors and lecturers as well university students, specifically how peer feedback can be used by instructors as a way to enhance learners’ writing skills. Moreover, with the increasing access to social networks such as Facebook groups, EFL learners can engage themselves in peer feedback activities beyond the university writing courses for further development in writing. Recommendation for Researchers: Significant insights on EFL learning may be gleaned from analysing peer feedback on learning activities, which are easily facilitated by commonly available social networks such as Facebook. Hence, researchers who are interested in this domain are encouraged to look beyond the traditional teaching medium. Impact on Society: The use of social networks (including Facebook groups) for educational purposes has received much attention from university learners worldwide. This research can facilitate people’s awareness of the value of such networks in creating learning opportunities outside the university context. Future Research: Future research could combine both synchronous and asynchronous technologies in peer feedback and focus on the effect of peer feedback on each learner’s writing.

Increasing Quality and Involvement in Online Peer Feedback Exchange

Design instructors are integrating the use of online peer review platforms to keep pace with growing class sizes. However, these platforms typically prioritize randomized peer assignment strategies and show only the current solution to peers when writing feedback. This can result in low quality feedback in project-based design courses. We report on an experiment in which students (N=59) worked on twelve-week design projects and both wrote and received online feedback at four stages. The experiment tested a novel assignment strategy of peer mentorship, where peers were assigned to give feedback to all stages of the same project, and tested showing the context from the preceding design stage when composing feedback. The results showed that displaying the context from the preceding design stage led to feedback with higher perceived quality at the late design stages (but not at earlier stages) and feedback from mentors prompts longer responses from the feedback recipients. Our work contributes deeper empirical understanding of how assignment strategies and showing additional context affects peer feedback and provides practical guidelines for instructors to implement these methods in design courses.

Learner perceptions of online peer pronunciation feedback through P-Check

Receiving adequate pronunciation feedback is an ongoing challenge for l2 learners. Although instructors are the most important source of corrective pronunciation feedback (Szpyra, 2014; Timson, 2007), l2 learners can also benefit from peer pronunciation feedback (Lord, 2008; Kim & Yoon, 2014; Roccamo, 2015). This paper examines Japanese university students’ perceptions of online peer feedback on intelligibility (Derwing & Munro, 2005). To aggregate the feedback, P-Check, a plug-in for the Glexa lms (Version2, 2015) was developed and its recognition and dialog functions were piloted in two studies. In the first exploratory study (N = 59), a post-treatment survey and diaries were used to explore participants’ attitudes. Participants believed that peer feedback through P-Check was useful and had increased their awareness of their pronunciation strengths and weaknesses. In the second quasi-experimental study (N = 55), no significant difference was found in participants’ perceptions of the usefulness of peer feedback, whether delivered face-to-face or via P-Check. Recommendations for further development of P-Check and other similar plug-ins are given.

EFL LEARNERS' ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS OF ONLINE AND CONVENTIONAL PEER WRITTEN FEEDBACK: A TERTIARY LEVEL EXPERIENCE

The present study attempted to uncover EFL learners’ perceptions of and attitudes towards peer feedback in writing classes under conventional and computer-mediated conditions. In so doing, the participants who were university upper-intermediate literature sophomores studying in two intact classes were assigned randomly to two control (conventional) and experimental (online) peer feedback treatments. The participants of the two groups took two questionnaires at the beginning and at the end of the treatment. Some of the participants took part in follow-up interviews to disclose their perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of conventional and online peer feedback activity. The results indicated that the participants of both groups were content with their experience of peer feedback activity. They found peer feedback an acceptable activity which provided them with a non-threatening condition to exchange ideas. However, at the end of the treatment, the online group students had more positive perceptions of and attitudes towards peer feedback activity.

Online Features of Qzone Weblog for Critical Peer Feedback to Facilitate Business English Writing

Qzone weblog is one of the most popular weblogs in China. This study explores Qzone weblog for critical peer feedback to facilitate Business English writing among the Chinese undergraduates. A qualitative case study is conducted by NVivo 8 to analyze the three research data of semistructured interviews, Business English writing assignments, and critical peer feedback artifacts. Three research questions are focused on the case participants’ perception of this study, the strength and weakness of Qzone for critical peer feedback, and online features of Qzone affecting critical peer feedback in Business English writing. The findings indicate that Qzone weblog is a convenient information communication technology platform for online critical peer feedback among the Chinese undergraduates. The six aspects of strength and five online features are coded by NVivo 8, which are models by NVivo 8 with figures. The weakness of Qzone is the character number limitation for blogging and feedback. The conclusion of this study will be applied for the use of Qzone weblog and other kinds of weblog for online peer feedback in English writing.

Relations between scripted online peer feedback processes and quality of written argumentative essay

Teachers often complain about the quality of students' written essays in higher education. This study explores the relations between scripted online peer feedback processes and quality of written argumentative essay as they occur in an authentic learning situation with direct practical relevance. Furthermore, the effects of the online argumentative peer feedback script on students' written argumentative essay are studied. A pre-test, post-test design was used with 189 undergraduate students who were assigned to groups of three. They were asked to explore various perspectives, and the ‘pros and cons’ on the topic of ‘Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)’ in order to write an argumentative essay in the field of biotechnology. The findings reveal that successful students and groups differ in terms of their feedback quality than less-successful students and groups. This implies that when students engage in high-quality, elaborated and justified peer feedback processes, they write high-quality argumentative essays. Furthermore, the results show that the online argumentative peer feedback script enhances the quality of students' written argumentative essay. Explanations for these results, limitations, and recommendations for further research are provided.

Effects of different online peer-feedback approaches on students' performance skills, motivation and self-efficacy in a dance course

It has become common practice to video record students' in-class dance moves. Such a teaching strategy is able to help students reflect on their dance performance by providing them with visualized feedback. Therefore, in this study, an online peer-feedback system for dance education has been developed in order to compare the effects of different modes of online peer-feedback on students' dance skills performance, learning motivation, self-efficacy, peer review quality, peer assessment correctness, and online learning behaviors. Moreover, interviews were also conducted to elicit the students' opinions regarding this teaching method. The participants were 100 college students from three classes who learned with different online peer-feedback modes: videos with peer comments, videos with peer ratings, and videos with a mixed mode (i.e., peer ratings plus peer comments). A 12-week experiment was conducted to evaluate the performances of the three approaches. The experimental results show that, in terms of dance skills, peer ratings could improve the students' group performance, while the mixed mode improved individuals' learning performance. In terms of learning motivation and self-efficacy, the correlation analysis shows that the students' intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy and dance skill performance were positively correlated. Via analyzing the peer feedback content, it was found that the feedback provided by the mixed mode group was of better quality than that provided by the “peer comments” group; that is, the former provided more detailed feedback to individuals than the latter. Furthermore, it was found that the scores provided by the mixed mode group were highly related to those provided by the teachers, while those provided by the “peer ratings” group were not. The online user behavior analysis further shows that the integration of peer commenting and peer rating is able to promote students' willingness to participate in online learning activities. The interview results also confirm these findings. To sum up, the integration of both peer rating and peer comments is an effective approach that can meet the students' expectations and help them improve their dance skills, peer-feedback quality, peer-scoring correctness as well as their willingness to participate in online learning activities.

Social network launches bid to get academics chattering about papers online

Richard Price, the chief executive officer of academia.edu, explains his plans to shake up online peer-feedback.

Gamification of Professional Development for First Year Engineering Students

Approximately 1.23 billion people play video games. Gamification is the study of what motivates gamers to invest thousands of hours into these games, and more importantly attempts to derive principles of gamification that can be applied to motivate people to participate in non-video game tasks with equal zeal. Education is one area where gamification is being explored.One gamification principle is to give participants a clear indication of their progress. In video games this is often depicted as ‘points’. The typical grade system could be interpreted as a type of point system, but one without much flexibility. Implementation of a bonus point system as an overlay to the standard grade system may allow for more flexibility.In this study this gamification principle was used to motivate students in a first year design course to participate in optional professional development activities and to foster an active online peer feedback and instruction community. With relatively minor modifications and repackaging of an existing evaluation methods students were motivated to give optional oral presentations, attend optional skill development workshops, and to contribute extensively to an online learning community.This implementation of gamification was found to have a net positive effect on student participation in Professional Development activities. Where it succeeded and where it failed will be explored.

Adolescents’ comments in social media: Why do adolescents receive negative feedback and who is most at risk?

Receiving negative peer feedback in social media may have negative consequences for adolescents’ psychosocial development and well-being. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to investigate online behavior (i.e., online social exploration, risky online self-presentation) that predicts receiving negative online peer feedback. The second aim was to examine three types of precursors that may predict this online behavior and, indirectly, negative feedback: (a) developmental (i.e., sex, age), (b) dispositional (i.e., sensation seeking, inhibitory control), and (c) social precursors (i.e., peer problems, family conflict). We collected survey data among 785 Dutch adolescents (10–15years old). Our results showed that adolescents who engaged in online social exploration and risky online self-presentation more often, were more likely to receive negative peer feedback. Online social exploration was more prevalent among the older adolescents and adolescents characterized by higher sensation seeking and more family conflict. In addition, risky online self-presentation was more prevalent among adolescents high in sensation seeking. Consequently, these adolescents’ online behavior, indirectly, made them more at risk of receiving negative peer feedback in social media.

The Effects of Online Peer Feedback Type on Online Interaction Centrality, Node Type, and Social Network Density

The Effects of Online Peer Feedback Type on Online Interaction Centrality, Node Type, and Social Network Density

Transforming and constructing academic knowledge through online peer feedback in summary writing

Recognizing that graduate students seldom have the opportunity to participate collaboratively, either in providing or receiving feedback to improve their academic writing skills, this study reports on the design of a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) system used to investigate how graduate students transform and construct their academic knowledge through peer feedback when involved in summary writing. A sample of 24 graduate students who studied English as a foreign language was grouped into experimental and control groups, 13 and 11 graduate students in each group. The results of this study reveal that integrating the three key elements of a CSCL system facilitated improvement in the experimental group's summary writing. These key elements included (1) acquiring a basic understanding of main ideas by requesting keywords as scaffolds, (2) explicitly observing more proficient peers' writing processes when providing and receiving peer feedback (knowledge transformation), and (3) solving writing problems by revising their own summaries following peer feedback (knowledge construction). Based on the three key elements, the graduate students in the experimental group made more local (i.e., grammatical) and global revisions (i.e., text development, organization, and style) on their own as well as their peers’ summaries, compared with the graduate students in the control group. The effectiveness of online peer feedback on summary writing, in transforming and constructing academic knowledge, is further discussed in this study.

A Case Study on Online Peer Feedback for Learning English Pronunciation at University Level

A Case Study on Online Peer Feedback for Learning English Pronunciation at University Level

Students’ Perspectives on the Use of Peer Feedback in an English as a Second Language Writing Class

Abstract Peer assessment and peer feedback are considered alternatives to teacher-based feedback and their effects on writing have been substantially researched. This study aims to examine the perspectives of a group of university students, who are mainly second language learners, on peer feedback in an English writing class. Many of the studies conducted on the perspectives of students regarding peer feedback provided conflicting findings. While some found that peer feedback was viewed with doubt and encouraged little revision, others found it helped learners to recognise their strengths and flaws in writing. This study aims to better understand students’ perspectives regarding peer feedback and to identify the concerns raised by students involved in the study. The findings from this study revealed that the participants of the study had a positive perspective on the use of peer feedback and on the use of an online peer feedback tool. The study also showed that past experience did not contribute towards a negative perspective of peer feedback among the participants. The findings from this study are useful for future research in designing a better peer feedback process and improve its implementation.

Enhancing international postgraduates’ learning experience with online peer assessment and feedback innovation

Internationalisation and assessment and feedback are one of the main research agenda in the UK higher education. The study reports the Higher Education Academy Economics Network-funded research for international students’ experience with peer assessment and feedback innovation. The Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) theoretical framework is used to analyse students’ experience. The finding demonstrates that peer assessment practice enhances assessment and feedback experience for international students. However, the heterogeneity in assessors’ ability levels may affect the confidence of students in peer assessment. Independent justification for providing peer assessment or making sense of received feedback is necessary. The model of PeerMark’s ZPD is suggested to become part of the peer assessment for learning ecosystem in order to empower learning experience rather than to provoke diffidence.