Jennifer Sessions on the power of Peerceptiv
Peer review of writing assignments is an important component of many of Jennifer Sessions’ history courses, and she regularly uses Peerceptiv to facilitate this process. She shares some of her experiences with the tool and recommendations for others who might be considering a similar approach.
The thing I really appreciate about Peerceptiv is that it doesn’t just help students improve individual papers. It helps them become more effective readers and editors. It sounds hyperbolic, I know, but I regularly use the term “magical” in describing this power to colleagues. The anonymous online system depersonalizes the peer review process and facilitates more objective, honest feedback, which means writers get better, more useful feedback on their own drafts. But even more important, reading and providing feedback on several of their colleagues’ drafts allows students to see what does and doesn’t work for the assignment, to think through why, and to talk about how to make a given piece of writing more effective.