2.2.6 Peer reviews
Peer review refers to the process of having students read, evaluate, and provide constructive feedback on the work of their peers. This active learning technique may be used both inside and outside of the classroom. The aim is for students to engage critically with the work of others and, in doing so, to develop a better understanding of a concept or recognize the gaps in their own knowledge or that of their peers.
Peer reviews, therefore, enable students to gauge or refine comprehension and enhance their ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information (Sadler & Good, 2006). Additionally, peer reviews make use of a type of peer instruction. By providing feedback on their peers’ work, students take on the role of the teacher. By critiquing their peers’ writing, students not only help their classmates improve their work, but also strengthen their own understanding of the elements of an effective argument or piece of work.
2.2.7 Polling
Polling is a fairly straightforward strategy that can be used in almost any class setting to engage students and assess their understanding (Wieman et al., 2017). A variety of software tools allow instructors to pose a question and immediately collect feedback from the entire class. Depending on the software, students can respond to a multiple-choice question using a phone or computer, or with a handheld clicker (also known as a personal response device). In addition to multiple choice questions, many online tools allow different formats of answers, including short text entry, drawing, and ranking. Polling can be used even without technology. For example, students can respond to a multiple-choice question by raising the appropriate number of fingers or by holding up a colored card, where colors correspond to the different answers.
Polling provides an instructor with real-time feedback from all students. Asking a question and collecting student responses takes just a couple of minutes, and can be integrated into any type of course, including lectures. A particularly effective strategy is to ask each student to first respond to the poll independently, then discuss the question with a neighbor, and then re-vote (Smith et al., 2009). This strategy is described in more detail above in the section on Peer Instruction.