Peer reviews function as in-class writing workshops. They engage students fully in the writing process by having them share their work with each other before presenting it to the instructor for a grade. For more on the rationale of peer reviews, see Peer Reviews as Teaching Strategy.
However, the downside of peer reviews is that students often come to class unprepared or reluctant to share their work with others. Peer reviews can also pose difficulties in class management if a group is too big or consists of students with widely varying writing skills. Instructors, however, can overcome these downsides by varying their approaches to peer review.
Student Unpreparedness and Reticence
One of the biggest problems in peer reviews is that many students simply don’t want to participate, or they show up for class without a rough draft or sufficient copies to share with their peer groups. Indeed, students often wait until the last minute before class to print out their drafts friom a campus computer. But if something goes wrong with the printer—or if they’ve forgotten to bring their flash drives—they complain that they tried and that it’s not their fault.
Instructors have basically two options at this point. They can prohibit the student from participating in peer review and even ask the student to leave the class. (Students should be warned in advance that this is the penalty they will face should they come to class unprepared.) Or they can allow the student to sit in on the peer review as a sort of “grace period.”
Both options have advantages and disadvantages. Asking unprepared students to leave results in more manageable peer groups—it ensures that everyone else is on the same page and ready to go—but students who do not take peer review seriously may think they’re being rewarded with a free hour. Having students sit in on peer reviews may entice them with what they’re missing out on and make them realize that peer reviews aren't so bad, after all. But it also makes the playing field uneven, since such students are not obligated to share their work with the group.
In practical experience, it is best to allow unprepared students to remain during the first peer review, then remind them to finish their work well in advance of the class. Remind them also of the consequences for coming to class unprepared. If such students still do not bring drafts, the choice to not participate becomes theirs.
Peer Group Size and Management
In composition classes that last 50 minutes, peer groups with three or four members allow students sufficient time to read and discuss most drafts of four to five pages.
For longer writing assignments, instructors may wish to spread the peer review over two or more classes. For example, during the first class each group might focus exclusively on introductions and thesis statements. During the next class, they might focus on the body of the paper. Giving students very specific goals to work on ensures that they do not get overwhelmed in looking for problems. It also gives students a chance to correct problems in the earlier parts of their papers before bringing in the entire draft.
Instructors should also take some care in assigning students to peer groups. While some instructors prefer to let students choose their own peer groups, this can have significant disadvantages when students prefer to sit with their friends, or, if they do not know anyone in class, they become “last picked,” like children on a sports team.
A more effective approach is to have students turn in a short writing assignment before using peer groups. The instructor can then evaluate students' writing and assign those with similar writing skills to the same group. This approach serves students in two ways: It reduces the chance that those with better writing skills will be bored in groups with lesser writers, and it minimizes the risk that students with developing writing skills will feel intimidated.
There are many variations in organizing and managing peer groups. After conducting a few peer reviews, instructors learn what works for their classes and what doesn’t. Flexibility is the key to ensuring that peer reviews serve student needs.
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