Journal of Response to Writing Oct 2019 RSS Open Access

Differentiating Between Potential Goals of Peer Review: An Interview Study of Instructor and Student Perceptions

Stewart, Mary K.

Abstract

Despite extensive attention to peer review in composition studies literature, the activity remains challenging to design, in part because there are multiple potential goals for peer review. This article draws on existing literature to describe a variety of peer review goals and then presents interview data to illustrate the perceptions of first-year composition instructors (n=3) and students (n=8) about the goals of peer review. The three instructor interviewees each described a specific and distinct goal for peer review: constructing quality feedback, identifying effective writing, and developing peer trust. However, when asked about the purpose of peer review, all eight of the students focused on one goal: improving draft quality. This article recommends increased attention to naming and differentiating among specific goals of peer review, as well as more discussion of ways to deliberately articulate those goals to students.

Journal
Journal of Response to Writing
Published
2019-10-01
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Open Access
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Topics
first-year composition qualitative research book reviews
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