Peer feedback

Peer to peer feedback is a broad descriptor that can be applied to a range of interactions between students. Many theories of learning incorporate feedback between peers including Stephen Brookfield’s framing of discussion as a key component of learning ​(Brookfield, 2005)​ and the connectivist understanding of the classroom as a complex networked space ​(Siemens, 2005)​

Types of peer feedback

An easy distinction can be made between modes of peer to peer feedback including; informal where feedback occurs outside of a specific learning task, formative where a task is designed to elicit feedback between learners, and summative assessment where the student to student feedback forms a component of an assessment mark (peer assessment). Formative tasks, as well as summative tasks might refer learners to relevant assessment criteria for their reference when providing feedback.

Benefits of peer feedback

The incorporation of peer to peer feedback in a subject presents a range of benefits 

• Feedback between peers is usually quicker than waiting for a tutor ​(Ladyshewski, 2013)​.
• Students giving feedback actually learn as much or more through the process than the receiver of feedback because students must organise and present the information they are providing​(Huisman et al., 2018; Ladyshewski, 2013)​.
• When students give feedback to a peer they gain experience and evaluative skills that they can also apply to their own work ​(Sadler, 2010)​. 
• Peer feedback outside of a summative assessment enables a safe space for students to resolve discrepancies or correct misunderstandings outside the structure of the teacher student relationship ​(Ladyshewski, 2013)​. 

Peer feedback in practice

Teaching staff may be reluctant to implement peer feedback due to the concern that incorrect information could be exchanged between students. The formation of small groups of students working together to exchange feedback can assist in mitigating this risk as it is hopefully less likely for misinformation to to pass unchallenged within a small group than students working in pairs. By asking groups to report back into the whole class or to the teacher there is an opportunity for any remaining issues to be picked up and corrected. 

Receiving feedback from peers may be more challenging to students than hearing feedback from teaching staff, as they may not respect the views and opinions of their peers. There is a danger that negative feedback will cause the recipient to withdraw from the group and peer interaction. (Ladyshewsky, 2013). It is recommended that peer to peer feedback be directed to focus upon exchanges of explanatory information relating to the subject matter rather than suggestions for specific revisions as this information can be more easily discussed and received without a sense of their own work being attacked or judged ​(Huisman et al., 2018)​. 

Where a peer feedback process calls for evaluation of each other’s work, providing students with a clear structure and criteria to guide their evaluative process can assist in guiding students to apply their feedback to specific aspects or components of a peers work. In the case of formal, summative tasks where student to student feedback forms part of a mark, this should be limited to 25% or less as more than this can make peers uncomfortable and increases risk of student collusion ​(Ladyshewski, 2013)​.

Keeping in mind that students may gain more through the process of giving rather than receiving feedback it can also be useful to ask students to provide feedback to one another in relation to the feedback they have received. This process known as back-feedback can improve how students both receive and give feedback ​(Kim, 2009)​.