Peer Feedback

Often, the rubrics I return to students as part of a project evaluation end up in a digital dust bin, or, they may never even be viewed by the students. There are likely lots of causes for the supposed disinterest in evaluations, but I imagine the arcane nature of rubrics and the well aged evaluator both detract from their appeal. Evidence supports the notion that peer review can be valuable for the reviewer and those reviewed, and I suspect that kids are innately more interested in what their peers think, than in what their middle old aged teacher has to offer.

I wondered how an evaluation process might be simplified for use by peers while evaluating student work in a video production class. Early efforts resulted in a simple form which collected ratings on four three areas; videography, audio quality, and overall video effectiveness. Technically, the process worked. It resulted in a neat table being shared with each students.

Whose video did you just watch?	All shots were well composed. (4 is highest)	The audio was good. (4 is highest)	The video worked. (4 is highest)	Constructive feedback
Adam	4	4	4
Adam	3	4	4
Adam	4	4	4	Good job
Adam	4	4	3	Thought the teacher concept was a little off.
adam	4	4	4	Music fit very well
Adam	4	4	4
Adam	4	4	4	love this so much
Adam	3	4	4	when the teacher throws phone lighting is too dark
Adam	4	4	4	I liked the title and how Nick was dramatic when the teacher took his phone away. The background music was really appropriate and fit well.

Sample peer review

The above review is a small sample. When 20-30 students responded, the results were a bit overwhelming. Only a real math nerd would be able to make sense of the raw statistics, and that meant only a few students might ever get to the point of synthesizing the information and acting on it. I really wanted students to wonder, "How would I improve the deficit my friends identified?" I witnessed students glancing quickly at the mass of text, and moving on. That's not what I was hoping for. I was really dissatisfied and wanted to find a solid way to graphically represent the cumulative results in a way that would help students visualize the feedback.

Happily, I was able add a few functions to the form's spreadsheet to make it easy to help students visualize what their peers were seeing, hearing, and thinking. By taking the same results and filtering based on student names, GSheets was able to make a table containing individual's evaluations. From there, charts helping visualize the data were just a click away. Sharing a PDF of the resultant visualization and written feedback with each student was quick and painless. I am looking forward to seeing how students interpret the information and if this graphical format generates greater interest. Stay tuned...

If you would like to use a similar system with your students, you are encouraged to copy this spreadsheet and make it your own and customize it. If you would like help with it let me know.