Calibrated Peer Review TM Writing, Collaboration, and Critical Thinking Arlene A. Russell, UCLA University of Maryland November 13, 2003

Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) was created under the Molecular Science Project, an NSF-funded systemic reform project is an instructional tool that uses writing and peer review to teach higher-order thinking skills and peer collaboration manages the writing and anonymous review processes of instructor-selected assignments

Integrate telecommunications and technology into instructional processes so that students learn to explore ideas independently write about chemistry collaborate work to a mastery level take responsibility for their own learning

Tenets of CPR Expository writing promotes understanding Clear writing demonstrates clear thinking Peer review and evaluation require higher- order, critical thinking skills Writing-to-learn  Learning-to-write –But, writing-to-learn can (and should) include attention to writing skills

Writing-to-Learn Used extensively in humanities and social sciences Requires small classes –Science and engineering have put their resources into labs Imposes intensive grading workload ~ Seldom used in large science classes, because –Workload too high, not the job of scientists, large classes, not objective,…….

Peer Review Accepted process for validating scientific research Essential skill required of all scientists ~ Seldom taught in science classes Not used in large lecture courses

Peer Review “Peer Assessment Between Students in Colleges and Universities” Review of Educational Research, Fall 1998, 68, pp Little use of computers except to submit work

Peer Review “Student Peer Assessment in Higher Education: A Meta-Analysis Comparing Peer and Teacher Marks” N. Falchikov and J. Goldfinch, Review of Educational Research, Fall 2000, 70, pp –Peer assessments resembled teacher assessments most closely “when global judgements based on well understood criteria were used.” –Advanced students not better assessors than beginner students.

Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) Both writing and reviewing improve students’ understanding of the topic –involves writing (reflective thinking) –involves reviewing (critical thinking)

Student’s Interaction with CPR Students –carry out a guided study of source material –write an essay (~300 words) about what they have studied. –are trained as reviewers of this topic by studying a set of “Calibration” essays and evaluating them on specific questions –anonymously review three of their peers’ essays and provide written feedback to them –apply their evaluation skills to self-review their own essays

Instructor Responsibility Selects the topics from the library of assignments Sets grading criteria and due dates for submission of essays and reviews Monitors student progress and performance (Participates in the assignment as a student)

So What? Do CPR Assignments Make a Difference? Is content knowledge improved? Are evaluation skills developed? Do students learn to collaborate? What do students think about CPR?

Evaluation of CPR Economics - CSUN Comparison of intact classes Ten case-study assignments Three sections (same instructor) of Economics 200; 2 CPR based, 1 traditional with essays but no evaluation component Repeated over two semesters

Evaluation of CPR Biology - CSUF One class, one instructor Time-series design Ten topics, 5 taught through CPR, alternately with 5 taught through lecture and simulation Nancy J. Pelaez “Problem-based Writing with Peer Review Improves Academic Performance in Physiology” Advan Physiol Educ, Sep 2002; 26:

Evaluation of CPR Life Science 1H - UCLA One class, one instructor (26 students) Three CPR assignments Multiple-choice midterm and final exam questions classified as –relating directly to topics in CPR assignments –requiring transfer of understanding of CPR topics – addressing non-CPR topics. Mean performance: 84.8% on CPR topics, 79.7% on non-CPR topics (paired t-test: p = 0.006)

Evaluation of CPR Chemistry - UCLA General chemistry Midterm question on theory of two- component phase diagram Two quarters traditional lecture and problems One-quarter with an additional CPR assignment

Exam Scores Quarter CPR Actual Percent usegrade Winter 1998No6.2/1062 % Winter 2000No9.2/1561 % Spring 2000Yes15.1/2071%

Evaluation of CPR-writing Skills Chemistry- UCLA Senior level environmental chemistry; all evaluation based on writing Midterm - 3 essays on issues -topics specified Final - 6 essays on issues, two on topics covered by CPR assignments 3 CPR assignments given between midterm and final

Evaluation of CPR-Reviewing Skill Ten courses, taught by 8 instructors, from 8 different institutions, for 5 different subjects Paired t-test comparison of students’ ability to review assignments at beginning of term with performance on last assignment in course.

Peer Review Feedback

Introductory Organic Chemistry Research University –lecture three times/week –no discussion –separate lab course –most students “premed” one CPR assignment: Study of Cycloalkanes –uses CHIME interactive tutorial to study ring strain given as extra credit assignment at end of quarter feedback to instructor required for credit

Introductory Organic Chemistry Student Buy-In 219 of 372 students did the assignment and submitted comments!

Student Perceptions

Student Comments Technical Issues “The chime plugin was a little problem because I too use netscape 6.1 so I ended up using Internet Explorer 6.0. It handled the plugin well and did not give me any problems. The web site performed decently with a 56K modem connection, except the chime illustrations took about 30sec to 45sec to load but acceptable. Now that the calibrations are available the calibration screens seem very user friendly but I would tell everyone that it is best to use a screen resolution of at least 800x600 because there is so much to info to display. The questions take half the screen and the essay takes up the other half.”

Source Material/Reviewing “I thought that the CPR was really interesting. I liked the fact that they made us look at 3D models before we could answer the questions because it gave us a good idea of the concept involved in the question. I think that the process we had to take before writing the essay was great because it took us step by step to the answer, allowing us to thoroughly comprehend the strain (angle and torsional) in cycloalkanes in comparison to their alkane counterparts and to other larger or smaller cycloalkanes…. I also like that we will get to grade other students’ essays and later see if our own essays were of good quality. I believe that it will let us know if we really understand the part that strain plays in cycloalkanes.”

Workload, Course Value “This program is similar to something that my girlfriend is doing in her Christian theology class at BIOLA. She writes a 400-word response to a "poll" question based on the page reading assignment that week, every week. Then she reviews the work of three others (but not her own), followed by an in class discussion once a week. Of course, an in-class discussion is not appropriate for a chemistry course and the material covered requires more work than a simple read and response. This is why I feel that the CPR program would be more beneficial if it were assigned more than once a quarter. Something more like one assignment every 2-3 weeks. I really feel that this would improve the overall information retention of the class.

Writing By writing this assignment in a mini-essay form I was able to come at my own conclusions and express the material in my words. I believe that this was very helpful because in order to understand the material it is extremely useful to be able to describe and put the material one learned into his/her own words

Workload, Course Value I enjoyed the CPR assignment. I liked having another format to think about organic chemistry. If you do this again, I think optical rotation would be a great subject. I thought the writing assignment was a good length--not too much to read six examples of writing

Workload, Value, Reviewing I thought the idea of CPR was a very good idea because it helped expanding students' knowledge and developing insight into the materials we had studied. However, I didn't really enjoy this project. I didn't like it because there was too much research involved and questions were very hard to answer. This project itself was time consuming as well. It took me a long time to finish the practice before I moved onto the actual project. Another time-consuming part was the peer reviewing. It took me about an average of 10 minutes each to review one paper. It required a lot of concentration as well

Course Value I thought CPR to be good learning tool. The project made the participants review the course material. As a result a better understanding of the material is attained…. It’s like having two lectures instead of one. Making an environment where students have to think is a good way to make the material understandable.

Reviewing, Course Value Truthfully, I enjoyed CPR. Writing the essay was a great way to review the specifics of cyclohxane strain, but when I reviewed the peer essays I think I learned most. I was able to see what strong points my essay had, and more importantly where I was lacking. I think CPR can be a very useful tool for students to use if they take it seriously and take the time to explore the website. Also, it is another chance for points, which is always good. By the way, thanks for the extra credit.

Timing, Workload this project was sort of like high school work. it was only assigned to keep me busy. first of all i don't have a computer so i had to go out of my way to use one. we studied cyclohexanes for the first midterm. it would've been a lot better if it was material from the current chapters.

Word Count, Technical Issues I just wanted to give you my opinion of cpr. I felt like it was to much of a hassle. It was hard to log onto and frustrating to deal with. When I logged on and began writing my text the HTML tutor wasn't accessible so I didn't know the editing commands. I know that we were supposed to be concise, but I felt that words just wasn't enough to truly answer the questions and write a good essay. Anyways, I didn't think cpr was really worth it because it was to much of a hassle.

.just submitted my CPR essay. All in all it isn't that bad. It's nice and short so that I ended up editting a lot of what I wrote so that I reached the maximum length and that's better than trying to think of crud to insert here and there to make a nice long essay. After the hurdle of trying to sit down and writing something about ochem, the experience itself is relatively brief. It would have been nice to know who our target audience is. I know that other peers are reading this, but for an example, are we supposed to clearly explain what eclipsing bonds means? Initially I did what it is, but there isn't enough word allowance for it so I took it out. The bad thing I don't like is that the topic is a bit late. I wouldn't mind covering a subject that is supposed to be covered in the next few weeks but I think writing a paper about something we had covered for the first midterm is a waste of time.

Foreign Students The calibrated peer review helped me to review many knowledges about the conformation of cyclohexane. I learned a lot from it

Technical Difficulties and Attitude to CPR PositiveNegativeComment Mentioned problems with CHIME 59% 41% (&/or UCR and CPR login) No technical difficulties 82% 18% mentioned

Integrates telecommunications and technology into instructional processes so that students learn to explore ideas independently write about chemistry collaborate work to a mastery level take responsibility for their own learning

Acknowledgements Funding sources National Science Foundation Howard Hughes Medical Institute University of California, Office of the President University of California, Los Angeles

Acknowledgements Colleagues Orville L. Chapman Tim Su Krista Motschiedler Brand Stephen Schimpf (Michael Fiore) authors students

Thank you