The Rewards & Challenges

PEER REVIEW WITH TURNITIN’S PEERMARK

KATIE HUGHES RWS

Student Engagement

Efficient Use of Time

Instructor-Driven Quality Control

Hands-Off Scoring

REWARDS

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

Self-scheduled & self-paced

Less distractions

Tendency to be more honest & thorough

MORE FOCUSED REVIEWS

Clicking & typing vs. filling out teacher forms by hand

Setting other than classroom

PROCESS IS MORE “FUN”

Reviews are right there on the computer

Click & drag comments identify specific revision suggestions in context

Questions point to specific criteria

MORE USEFUL FOR REVISING

FOCUSED QUESTIONS

CLICK & DRAG COMMENTS

EFFICIENT USE OF TIME

Classroom-based peer review sessions often turn into social hours

Distractions dilute quality of feedback

Time lapse between receiving reviews and doing revision can mitigate effectiveness of feedback

FOR STUDENTS

Peer Mark distributes & scoresScores transfer automatically to BB Grade Center

It’s easy to monitor at one’s convenience

Classroom or conferencing time is freed up

FOR INSTRUCTORS

DISTRIBUTION OPTIONS

EASY ACCESS FOR INSTRUCTORS

INSTRUCTOR-DRIVEN QUALITY CONTROL

Instructor can create customized questions & save to “library” for future use

Generic sample questions are available from PeerMark

Questions can be scale-based or free response (or both)

Instructor can require minimum amount of words, click & drag comments

FLEXIBLE REVIEW CRITERIA

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

HANDS-OFF SCORING

Instructor sets up distribution parameters, due date, and point value.

Points can be automatically awarded: no need to look at reviews or enter points.

Points will be automatically entered into BB Grade Center.

SET IT UP & YOU’RE DONE!

Instructor Set-Up Issues

Student Issues

Turnitin Server Issues

CHALLENGES….

Setting up multiple courses

Coordinating due dates & posting dates with late paper submissions

Setting up questions—if it times out, it all goes away!

Providing clear instructions to students

INSTRUCTOR SET-UP ISSUES

LOTS TO KEEP TRACK OF…

DO YOU ALLOW LATE PAPERS?

REVIEW QUESTIONS MUST BE ENTERED

Browsers—google chrome doesn’t work; Safari & Firefox are best

Confusion regarding due dates, eligibility to participate, how score is awarded based on completeness, how to access reviews

STUDENT ISSUES

SCORE TRACKER

Rarely, it is down—but it happens

Communication problems with Blackboard—call TII helpline or send email

Not enough time between paper due date/time & Peer Mark start time—allow at least a couple of hours

Student “rush-hour” floods the system—advise them ahead of time

TURNITIN SERVER ISSUES

PeerMark generates more valuable and effi cient

work for my students…

…while freeing up class time and

lessening paper work for me.

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED…