Giving feedback as a group is not as effective as doing it alone Eduflow Follow Jun 18, 2016 · 3 min read

How can the educational system improve peer feedback, so that students can get both a better learning experience and receive thorough feedback? This post takes a closer look at the dynamics of using peer feedback individually and in groups.

The success of improving a student’s learning experience through peer grading and peer feedback is highly dependent on the willingness of students to give and receive constructive feedback. When it works, the method can offer a beneficial learning experience for all parts. One question we often talk to teachers about, is whether giving feedback as individuals or as groups works best.

Our experience, both as teachers and as the facilitators of peer evaluation processes in many courses through Peergrade is that allowing students to give feedback individually has the biggest learning potential. Today many teaching activities are completed in groups, from the early years of school until the completion of university degrees. Learning to work in group settings is an essential part of education.

A screenshot from the student interface of Peergrade.io

But we believe that a combination of group-based work and individual work gives the best outcomes. Completing assignments and solving tasks together, followed up by individually giving feedback and assessing work of others is a great combination. This offers the students a greater possibility to engage with the material and optimise their own learning. This is not to claim that assignments should not be completed as a group, as there are definite advantages to such a working method both for the students as well as for the teachers. It is rather to suggest that joint feedback giving will not necessarily have the same educational value to one’s learning, as when students approach the project / task individually.

Similar conclusions were drawn by Pozzi et al. (2016)[1] when reviewing the potential of online peer grading. In their pilot study, the researchers conducted a qualitative and quantitative comparison of the work dynamics of dyads (pairs of students) and groups of five or more people. What their findings suggest is that peer grading can be a more successful teaching method when used in smaller groups, as pairs showed to be more active in taking responsibility for their own learning.

Looking at the differences between the two different social structures adopted (groups and dyads), it seems that dyads worked better: people working in pairs were more active as to Individual (C1), as well as Group (C2) knowledge building. (Pozzi et al. 2016, 101)

Pozzi et al. (Ibid.) findings additionally concluded that:

Dyads members were also forced to play more the teaching role and it seems that a stronger effort for organizing the work and facilitating the discourse was required to learners in pairs.

Most teachers that have worked with group work in their classes will know that while most students benefit in many ways from the experience, some do not. The potential of “free-riding” — either by choice or as an involuntary consequence of the other members of the group — can lead to less engagement, less interaction with the material and consequently less learning.

Peer grading is a collaborative effort and it is important to explore the optimal ways in which to engage all the students in order to improve their learning experience. Combining group based problem solving with individualised peer evaluations and peer feedback gives “the best of both worlds” while not requiring a huge time investment from the teacher.