Student FAQs

Student peer review involves students giving and receiving feedback on each other’s work. The basic process involves:

1. Students submit a draft to be reviewed
2. Submitted work is anonymously distributed
3. Students review other students’ work
4. Students receive reviews of their own work
5. Students use these reviews to reflect on and improve their own work

Participating in peer review can benefit you in many ways:

• Feedback from reviewers will help you to improve your assignment
• Reading other students’ assignments will give you insight into your own work
• You will take a more active role in the learning process
• Improve your understanding of subject content
• Develop generic skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, and delivering and receiving constructive criticism

Though it is a little more time-consuming, the feedback is very helpful, especially once you have read your own material too many times already, and classmates know exactly what is expected from the paper…
– Student

Reviews of your draft assignment will identify its strengths and weaknesses, and likely highlight areas where things could be altered or improved. Reviews tend to focus on the assessment criteria for the subject, so they will help remind you of what really matters. In addition, reading other students’ work and writing reviews may help you to identify areas where your own work could be improved, or highlight mistakes you may have overlooked.

Peer review made me reflect on my own work – before I had even started writing any of my own reviews, I returned to my own work with ideas of things to do differently. The reviews that I received were specific and pointed out some key areas where I could improve my own work. I also learnt a lot about phrasing criticism in the most helpful, respectful way possible…
– Student

Before you begin writing your reviews, your tutor/lecturer will provide training to the class in writing a review. The review process will also involve the use of a structured review form, which will be designed around the assignment criteria. This means that even though reviewers may vary, it is likely that each review will provide you with structured feedback relating directly to the assessment criteria and will help you to improve your assignment.

I was concerned that my peers wouldn’t really have enough knowledge or experience to give me constructive feedback on my work. However, when I got my reviews back, I found that all of them had some advice that I could incorporate and use to improve my assignment…
– Student

Before the peer review process commences, your tutor/lecturer will provide you with training on how to write a review, including examples of reviews, methods to deal with particularly high quality or poor quality assignments and guidance about giving constructive feedback. The structured review form will also help you to identify areas of the assignment that may need improvement or praise.

• Visit the Student Resources page for peer review tutorials; student handouts; and example reviews.

Peer review assignments are usually conducted on different topics and the choice of review documents is then limited. This means that reviewers do not review their own topic and it is not possible to plagiarise other students’ work.

The review process is completely anonymous, so any bias in the review process is unlikely. Reviews are double-blind, so you won’t know whose work you are reviewing, and they won’t know who you are.

High-achieving students can get enormous benefits from participating in the peer review process. Even if your assignment is already very good, reviewers may give you suggestions to improve your structure or wording, or may pick up on spelling or grammatical errors you may have overlooked. You will also get value from writing reviews and thinking critically about the assessment criteria, and thus help you to further improve your assignment. Finally, by participating in peer review you will develop key skills including diplomacy, negotiation and delivery of constructive feedback.

Seeing another high quality draft helped steer me in the right direction because it made me think critically about my own concepts and ideas…
– Student

When reviewers express different opinions, it is confusing, and it can be hard to decide who is right. This is where you will need to exercise your own judgement. Getting practice at evaluating feedback critically and working out which point of view you think is best justified is an important part of the peer review process.

Not always. Reviewers are exercising opinions, and these don’t always match those of the assessor. There is always scope for improvement, so treat reviews that are glowingly complimentary and offer few suggestions for improvement with healthy scepticism.