USING PEER FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE LEARNING VIA ONLINE PEER ASSESSMENT

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the influence of various forms of peer observation and feedback on student learning. We recruited twelve graduate students enrolled in a course entitled, Statistics in Education and Psychology, at a university in northern Taiwan. Researchers adopted the case study method, and the course lasted for ten weeks. Students were first required to learn the content and complete homework assignments through online peer assessment activities. Data were collected from interviews and student journals for content analysis. The results demonstrate that the quality of feedback improved from the first peer assessment to the second; however, the amount of advanced feedback decreased. Although students adjusted their homework according to the feedback provided by their classmates, they did not fully accept this criticism. Students valued specific feedback more highly than scores; however, the desire to obtain high scores motivated many students to modify their papers. When students discovered that peer reviewers were unable to understand their work, they would rewrite it with more extensive explanations and adopt feedback to generate new ideas or research directions. Finally, the students made valuable modifications to their work with the help of feedback from others, and most of the students had a positive impression of peer observation after participating in online peer assessment activities.