Peer feedback
Helen Puntha

This resource provides an introduction to the subject of peer feedback including definitions, considerations and applicability to different disciplines as well as links to further resources. For the purpose of the resource peer feedback is defined as the observation, commenting upon and at times assessment of students' work by other students. Peer feedback can be conducted in person for example in groups and pairs or online, such as in wiki work and weblogs. Peer feedback can be formative or summative in nature (see below) and might be included within courses as a one-off activity or an integral component of a module or maybe a programme's activities. Peer feedback like any other kind of feedback, should be both understandable and useful to the recipient.

• Formative peer feedback sometimes called peer review or peer critiquing includes a focus on learning processes and learning enhancement, more usually it is used to gauge the progress of students in a given piece of assessed work in which case it is often called formative peer assessment.
• Summative peer feedback is usually in the form of a final grade and comments for a submitted and marked piece of work to reflect the degree of alignment of the student work with intended learning outcomes. Although generally retrospective in nature, summative feedback can provide learning points for the student to consider for future assignments. In contrast to formative feedback the focus of summative feedback tends to be on product rather than process as it is usually a response to a completed piece of work.

Follow the link for more on the value and application of different types of peer feedback.

NTU feedback standards make a connection between peer feedback and the practice of the Crit or critical review in which students provide feedback to peers usually on work in progress. The Crit is most commonly practiced within design and project based subjects but has features which are very relevant to all disciplines.

Find out about the key features of the Crit and its transferability to non-design disciplines.

Case studies

• NTU Case Studies: a number of case studies of peer feedback practice have been collected from colleagues across NTU to support this resource (link to new page)
• External case studies: a range of external case studies are available from the Higher Education Academy website. These can be searched by discipline, pedagogic theme or resource type.

How to resources:

• NTU resources on peer assessment are available from the staff tab on NOW in the Using technology in learning and teaching' community under eSubmission, eAssessment and eFeedback. This includes information on the use of technologies to support peer assessment
• making peer feedback work in three easy steps is a short guide from Oxford Brookes which gives guidance on how to prepare for, structure and facilitate peer review activity
• Learn Higher top 10 tips on self, peer and group assessment
• University of Plymouth - seven steps to peer and self assessment
• Orsmond, P. (2004) Self and Peer Assessment: guidance on practices in the Biosciences, Higher Education Academy, Centre for Bioscience. Contains in-depth information, advice and case studies some of which are transferable to other disciplines
• Juwah, C., Macfarlane-Dick, D., Matthew, B., Nicol, D., Ross, D. And Smith, B. (2004) Enhancing student learning through effective formative feedback, Higher Education Academy. Includes case studies, a theoretical model, principles for good practice and workshop plans
• Some detailed suggestions for principles of good feedback practice can be found in a keynote paper by David Nichols on the University of York website.

Related topics
Links to further information on topics related to peer feedback:

• a list of further reading on peer assessment and assessing group work is available from the Liverpool John Moores website
• pages dedicated to the subject of collaborative learning can be found on the Global Development Research Center website
• some examples of peer learning strategies and references are available from the National University of Singapore
• an introduction to communities of practice is available at Etienne Wenger's website
• an overview of peer tutoring authored by Nancy Falchikov is available from the University of Leeds Staff and Departmental Development Unit
• a rationale and guidance for using self-assessment is available from the Higher Education Academy Economics Network.

NTU regulations and guidance

The Academic Standards and Quality Handbook has guidance on feedback requirements in Section 15H; a PDF download includes reference to the recent changes.

You might also be interested in engaging students in the use of feedback.