{"id":2781,"date":"2019-11-13T08:32:38","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T16:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/?p=2781"},"modified":"2019-11-13T08:32:38","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T16:32:38","slug":"peer-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/2019\/11\/13\/peer-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Peer Review: Providing a Rationale for the Process"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As online educators, we strive for a balance of learning activities that incorporate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shiftelearning.com\/blog\/bid\/308389\/3-types-of-interactions-you-should-be-sustaining-in-elearning\">three types of engagement<\/a>: learner-to-content, learner-to-instructor, and learner-to-learner.\u00a0 The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/237404371_Three_Types_of_Interaction\">learner-to-learner<\/a> component is often filled through discussion boards or group projects, but an underutilized and undervalued option is peer review.<\/p>\n<h2>The Rationale<\/h2>\n<p>There are <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/2015\/11\/17\/peer-review-why-and-how\/\">many ways peer review<\/a> benefits students, among them <a href=\"https:\/\/teaching.cornell.edu\/teaching-resources\/assessment-evaluation\/peer-assessment\">Cornell University Center for Teaching Innovation<\/a> lists:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Empower students to take responsibility for\u00a0and manage\u00a0their own learning.<\/li>\n<li>Enable students to learn to assess and give others constructive feedback to develop lifelong assessment skills.<\/li>\n<li>Enhance students&#8217; learning through knowledge diffusion and exchange of ideas.<\/li>\n<li>Motivate students to engage with course material more deeply.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>More broadly, the authors of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Knowledge-Illusion-Never-Think-Alone\/dp\/039918435X\"><em>The Knowledge Illusion<\/em><\/a> argue that our individual capacity for knowledge is often much more limited than we realize and that our true depth of knowledge is held collectively.\u00a0 They remind us that, \u201cwhen you put it all together, human thought is incredibly impressive.\u00a0 But it is a product of a community, not of any individual alone\u201d (page 5).\u00a0 In our increasingly complex world, some evidence of a shift towards building knowledge collectively can be seen in research. For example, in the MEDLINE database, \u201cthe average number of authors per article has nearly quadrupled from about 1.5 in 1950 to 5.5 in 2014\u201d (page 226).\u00a0 This is just one of many examples the authors use to illustrate how essential collaboration and relationship skills have become.\u00a0 In nearly every field, students need to be prepared to be more than individual achievers, but rather to contribute effectively to a group.\u00a0 Peer review provides students an opportunity to give and receive feedback with the goal of creating a better end product, but it is also an opportunity for students to practice and build their teamwork skills.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iste.org\/standards\/for-students\">International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standard 3b<\/a> emphasizes the need for students to, \u201cevaluate the\u00a0accuracy,\u00a0perspective,\u00a0credibility\u00a0and\u00a0relevance\u00a0of information, media, data or other resources.\u201d\u00a0 Peer review is a great way for us to meet this standard and to combat against misinformation, by teaching students to evaluate and challenge claims.\u00a0 In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Weaponized-Lies-Think-Critically-Post-Truth\/dp\/1101983825\"><em>Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era<\/em><\/a> author Daniel J. Levitin shares strategies for how we can think more critically and evaluate the trustworthiness of what we are being told.\u00a0 He notes that, \u201csometimes the people giving you the facts are hoping you\u2019ll draw the wrong conclusion; sometimes they don\u2019t know the difference themselves\u201d (page xx).\u00a0 If your students are in either of these groups, it benefits them to have an attentive reader review their work and provide respectful suggestions for improvement prior to a final assignment submission.\u00a0 This may help you as the instructor to avoid catching errors too late in the process when students cannot revise their work.<\/p>\n<h2>The Explanation<\/h2>\n<p>However, students may not see the value of peer review on their own.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/teachingcenter.wustl.edu\/resources\/writing-assignments-feedback\/using-peer-review-to-help-students-improve-their-writing\/\">The Teaching Center at Washington University in St. Louis<\/a> describes many reasons students may express uncertainty around peer review as, \u201cMany students do not perceive feedback from peers as relevant to the process\u2026 students are likely to assume that it is only the instructor\u2019s feedback that \u2018counts.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Therefore, it is important that we explain to students why we are asking them to engage in peer review explicitly.<\/p>\n<p>It can be helpful to explain specifically how this will relate to industry or field of study requirements as a student advances as a professional and scholar \u2013 it looks different for a researcher than it does for a project manager, so motivate students by sharing with them how they will engage in similar activities in the future as this gives them an opportunity to practice what <a href=\"https:\/\/serc.carleton.edu\/introgeo\/peerreview\/why.html\">Starting Point: Teaching Entry Level Geoscience<\/a> describes as, \u201ckey skills\u00a0such as abstracting, developing arguments, describing, assessing, criticizing, analyzing, and reviewing.\u201d\u00a0 As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facultyfocus.com\/articles\/online-education\/finding-the-instructional-value-in-peer-review-discussion-boards\/\">Faculty Focus<\/a> advises, we can\u2019t assume that students will implicitly understand the purpose of peer review.\u00a0 When we craft a peer review assignment, we need to think carefully about how we will articulate the benefits of the process to students.\u00a0 It can be helpful to answer questions like, \u201cWhy am I having students do this?\u201d and \u201cWhy should students be excited about this process?\u201d\u00a0 Or, to take it a step further, we can anticipate the questions from our students\u2019 perspective and proactively address the purpose and logistics in the assignment description, by answering questions like, \u201cWhy am I doing peer review?\u201d and \u201cHow am I supposed to review my peer\u2019s work?\u201d\u00a0 Make sure the technology needed and processes are clear and that resources are provided for students that need more guidance.<\/p>\n<h2>The Process<\/h2>\n<p>Remember, knowing why students are peer reviewing and being able to peer review are two totally different skills.\u00a0 If you are an Ecampus instructor, talk with your instructional designer about strategies that can help your peer review process be more successful.\u00a0 Some of the best practices suggested by <a href=\"http:\/\/citt.ufl.edu\/online-teaching-resources\/assessments\/peer-review-in-online-learning\/\">Center for Instructional Technology &amp; Training at the University of Florida<\/a> include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Clarify expectations in advance<\/li>\n<li>Check your students have all the tools they will need<\/li>\n<li>Provide enough time in the peer review process so that students can meaningfully engage \u2013 this may span more than one module<\/li>\n<li>Model the type of feedback you want your students to use<\/li>\n<li>Create a quality rubric as a guide<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Your instructional designer can also talk to you about digital tools or strategies that can be used to introduce students to peer review. For example, you can discuss whether it makes more sense to use <a href=\"https:\/\/community.canvaslms.com\/docs\/DOC-10256-4152719640\">Canvas Peer Review<\/a> or another tool, like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peerceptiv.com\/how-it-works\/\">Peerceptiv<\/a>, which is research-validated peer assessment technology available for Ecampus courses.<\/p>\n<p>Remember, students need opportunities to practice peer review, as they may never have done it before.\u00a0 That means they have to get familiar with both the tools and the process.\u00a0 It\u2019s best if they can practice with the technology on a low stakes assignment before using it for a high stakes assignment, so that they can familiarize themselves with a peer review process without the added anxiety of a major grade on the line.\u00a0 It will also take time for you as the instructor to get familiar with the process, but it is a completely worthwhile investment!<\/p>\n<p>I invite you to consider some concluding thoughts from Levitin, \u201cInformation gathering and research that used to take anywhere from hours to weeks now takes just seconds\u2026 The implicit bargain that we all need to make explicit is that we will use just <em>some<\/em> of that time we saved in information acquisition to perform proper information verification\u201d (page 253).\u00a0 Let\u2019s reinvest some of the time our students saved researching to engage them in verifying claims, evaluating evidence, offering commentary, and incorporating feedback \u2013 all of which support the development of a stronger student work and the building of a collective knowledge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As online educators, we strive for a balance of learning activities that incorporate three types of engagement: learner-to-content, learner-to-instructor, and learner-to-learner.\u00a0 The learner-to-learner component is often filled through discussion boards or group projects, but an underutilized and undervalued option is peer review. The Rationale There are many ways peer review benefits students, among them Cornell&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/2019\/11\/13\/peer-review\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9443,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[483,1839,120,1374127,2619,88537,155,156261,1185819,1185820],"class_list":["post-2781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-collaboration","tag-ecampus","tag-instructional-design","tag-learner-to-learner","tag-online-education","tag-online-learning","tag-oregon-state-university","tag-peer-review","tag-peerceptiv","tag-team-work"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9443"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2781"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2783,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2781\/revisions\/2783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}