1. An introductory tutorial
Student Peer Review
An introductory tutorial
This is a template PowerPoint that you can use when designing an introductory tutorial on peer review. It covers:
What is peer review, and how does it work?
Benefits of using peer review
Guidelines for writing a review
Guidelines for receiving feedback
Guidelines for responding to reviewers
This template can be tailored to suit your needs, and has the flexibility to allow you to include details of your specific assignment/peer review task. Some slides can be adapted to your particular review task. Current text on these slides represent examples e.g. Assignment details; the review form; time management; technical notes.
Additional suggestions/comments are provided in the ‘Notes’ section throughout.

2. The peer review process
Conduct study
Write manuscript
Peer review
Submit to journal
Accept
Revise
Reject
Introduction to the peer review concept, particularly the academic journal review process.

3. What is student peer review?
Students give & receive feedback on each other’s work
Use feedback to improve assignment before final assessment
Objectives:
Critically evaluate
Highlight strengths & weaknesses
Offer suggestions for improvement
What is student peer review, and how does it differ from the traditional use of peer review in academia?
Highlight that student peer review is focused on providing improvement to the assignment before final assessment, and that the drafts won’t actually be assessed.

4. How does it work?
Step 1: Prepare & submit a draft copy of assignment Step 2: Review 1-3 assignments Step 3: Receive feedback on own assignment Step 4: Incorporate feedback & submit final assignment Process is “double blind” to ensure fairness
This slide outlines the steps involved in student peer review.
You can tailor Step 2 to show how many assignments each student will review.
Optional: You may choose to include the additional Step 5: ‘Rate feedback received’.
Highlight the process is “double blind” – you don’t know who is reviewing your work, and they don’t know who you are. This may allay fears that students may have about bias/students giving favourable reviews to their friends.

5. What are the benefits?
Feedback before assessment allowing time to improve
Get insights into your own work by reviewing other assignments
Learn from comparison by seeing other students’ work
Improve understanding of subject matter
Develop generic skills
Critical thinking
Problem solving
Delivering constructive feedback
Outline the benefits of participating in student peer review.

6. Assignment details Assignment type Number of reviews to write
Number of reviews to receive
Review feedback:
Letter to the Editor
Rating feedback
Here is a good place to discuss the details of the review assignment with students, including: how many reviews they will need to write; how many reviews they will receive (i.e. 3 x Student reviews, or 2 x Student + 1 x tutor); plus any review feedback they need to undertake if you have chosen to include this step.

7. Writing a review When writing a review:
Aim for balance – highlight strengths as well as areas for improvement
Be specific – include explanations & examples (page or line numbers)
Prioritise – attend major issues first (message, structure, organisation) then move onto finer detail
Focus – on material & content (NOT the writer)
Be diligent & respectful – take care & think about how you would feel if you received the review
Guidelines for writing reviews

8. Helpful vs. unhelpful feedback
Helpful feedback is:
Constructive
Specific
Balanced
Succinct
Respectful
vs.
Unhelpful feedback is:
Too positive or too negative
General & unspecific
Rambling
Aggressive – makes reader feel ‘attacked’
Helpful vs. unhelpful feedback

9. Helpful vs. unhelpful feedback
1. What are the main strengths of this report?
Unhelpful comment:
“Your report was really good! I enjoyed reading it.”
Author’s response: “I’m flattered you liked my report, but I don’t have a sense of what you thought was good about it.”
Helpful comment:
“This report was succinct and well written. The aims of the report were clear and I found it easy to identify your take-home messages...”
Examples of helpful vs. unhelpful feedback

10. Helpful vs. unhelpful feedback
2. Where are the main areas for improvement?
Unhelpful comment:
“Your report was poorly written and hard to read!”
Author’s response: “This comment doesn’t really help me to improve anything!”
Helpful comment:
“There are a few areas that might make this report stronger. Expanding the Introduction to include more background information would help set the scene a little more (para 2). The arguments could also be strengthened by adding additional references, for examples lines 3, 16 and 55...”
Examples of helpful vs. unhelpful feedback

11. Helpful vs. unhelpful feedback
3a. Is the balance between the sections about right?
Unhelpful comment:
“No – there wasn’t enough space left for covering the background of the study.”
Helpful comment:
“The balance feels very good; however you may consider the possibility of expanding the background section with greater information on theoretical concepts being tested”
Author’s response: “Although stating good and bad points, none of it was portrayed negatively. The comments were given helpfully, with clear points for me to follow.”
Examples of helpful vs. unhelpful feedback

12. Helpful vs. unhelpful feedback
3b. Is the balance between the sections about right?
Unhelpful comment:
“The overall balance was good, with no section out-weighing any other at all.”
Author’s response: “Very positive review, but not much given that I can improve on - I highly doubt it was almost perfect.”
Helpful comment:
“Not the best balance: The introduction and rationale sections were too lengthy. While very clear, they could be trimmed down quite a bit and made to be much more concise. For example, I think lines 108 to 113 are unnecessary...”
Examples of helpful vs. unhelpful feedback

13. Helpful vs. unhelpful feedback
4a. Did you feel the article had good flow and structure?
Unhelpful comment:
“The paper flows really well from one section to the next and there is a logical progression.”
Helpful comment:
“It had good flow and structure from paragraphs 1-5, but somewhat lost it’s flow from then on. This can be fixed by adjusting the order in which you present your points. For instance, in paragraph 2...”
Author’s comment: “Thanks for this comment – it was a good mix of positive comments and suggestions for improvement. It was insightful and helped me improve my paper.”
Examples of helpful vs. unhelpful feedback

14. Helpful vs. unhelpful feedback
4b. Did you feel the article had good flow and structure?
Unhelpful comment:
“The article flowed really nicely and it was easy to follow the author’s train of thought”
Helpful comment:
“Not the best balance: The introduction and rationale sections were too lengthy. While very clear, they could be trimmed down quite a bit and made to be much more concise. For example, I think lines 108 to 113 are unnecessary...”
Author’s comment: “This comment is much more helpful because it gives me specific areas I can improve.”
Examples of helpful vs. unhelpful feedback

15. Example review 1
“I like the writing style, and I think the article is relatively easy to follow and the paragraphs are well linked. The article might be stronger if some of the sentences were more simple and succinct such as line 1 and 7 in paragraph 1, and line 3 in paragraph 4.”
Specific?
Constructive?
Balanced?
This is an example paragraph from a review. This can be used for discussion with students about the characteristics of a helpful review.
Clear?

16. Example review 2
“This paper has poor structure and flow. There are several grammatical and spelling errors and some of the paragraphs should be shortened. I got confused about what you were trying to say at some points.”
Specific?
Constructive?
Balanced?
This is an example paragraph from a review. This can be used for discussion with students about the characteristics of a helpful review.
Clear?

17. Example review 3
“Some sentences lacked commas where there should have been one, or were too long at times (e.g. line 34 and line 41). Otherwise, the article as a whole had a smooth flow and the intent behind each paragraph clear and understandable.”
Specific?
Constructive?
Balanced?
This is an example paragraph from a review. This can be used for discussion with students about the characteristics of a helpful review.
Clear?

18. The review form Review questions are aligned with assessment criteria:
Here is a good place to show students what the review form looks like and discuss how to use it.
Insert a screen shot of the review form that the students will be using.
You may also include details on accessing the online review form.

19. The quality of the review will be time-dependent
Time management
ONE WEEK TURNAROUND
Read manuscript (thoroughly) = 0.5 hr
Annotate / make notes
= 0.5 hr
Decide on the good / bad points
Complete “Review Form” = 0.5 – 1 hr
The quality of the review will be time-dependent
Indicate to students how long they should spend on each part of the review process. The times given above are an example.

20. Writing a review: summary
Read the draft thoroughly
Annotate/make notes
Decide on the strengths/areas for improvement
Complete review form
Be specific, constructive & balanced
Proof-read review!
Summary of tips for writing a review

21. Receiving feedback When you receive a review:
Understand that reviews will vary in quality
Take time to gather your thoughts & digest the comments
Think about every comment – even if you disagree, consider if it will be an issue for other readers
Recognise the review as an opportunity for reflection & improvement
Guidelines for receiving a review

22. Receiving feedback: tips
Don’t panic!
Read all the comments & make notes
Take time to reflect
Address major issues
Tackle smaller points
Proof-read final document
Summary of tips for receiving reviews

23. Responding to reviewers
Rate the reviews you have received along a scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree) according to:
Balance – did the review both highlight strengths & suggest areas for improvement?
Insight – did the review point out things you hadn’t thought of?
Helpfulness – did the review contain specific suggestions you were able to implement?
Authoritativeness – was it clear this reviewer knew their stuff?
Clarity – was the review well-written and easy to understand?
This is an optional slide. If you are including the additional step of rating the feedback received, this slide may be of use to you.
Options for including a feedback rating step include:
Students may complete a form rating each reviewer on their review.

24. Technical notes Before submitting your assignment, ensure it:
Is in a common file format (e.g. PDF)
Has continuous line numbers (will help reviewers point to particular areas
Is as polished and complete as possible (will lead to more effective feedback)
How to access PRAZE/online forms
This slide can be edited to include any technical notes, such as:
How to access the online review forms
How to anonymise the assignments
How to add line numbers/page numbers/convert to PDF etc.

25. Questions?