PEER FEEDBACK
What Is Peer Feedback?
Peer feedback is when writers read each other’s work and make comments or ask questions to help
each other improve their writing. The best peer feedback is constructive, questioning, supportive,
and respectful of the writer’s work.
Why Give Peer Feedback?
When we write a paper, it is sometimes hard for us to imagine how our audience will react. Will
they understand what we have written? If other people read our papers, they can usually “see”
things that we as authors can’t. Peer readers can help give us ideas on how to clarify and expand
our writing.
How Should We Give Peer Feedback?
First of all, it’s very important to remember that you should not correct grammar mistakes when you
give peer feedback. Correcting grammar actually comes during the proofreading stage of writing.
Before correcting grammar, it is important for writers to develop the content, ideas, and
organization of their writing. Since writers may decide to cut phrases, sentences, or whole
paragraphs from their drafts, it is not practical to correct grammar mistakes yet. Right now, you can
give feedback that helps the writer understand your reactions as a reader, clarify information, and
expand ideas.
The kind of feedback you give will depend on the goals of the assignment and the paper’s stage of
development. For instance, when the writer has just finished the first draft of a paper, your main
goals might be to make sure the writer’s purpose is clear and to help the writer expand ideas. In
later drafts, you may focus on more specific details and help the writer clarify certain points.
Your instructor can give you guidelines for responding to different drafts. Below are a few general
questions that you could use to help focus your feedback.
First read the writer’s whole draft. Then consider these questions, and write your comments or
questions directly on the writer’s paper.
1. What do you like about this paper? What do you think the writer has done well?
2. What questions do you have for the writer? What do you want to hear more about in this
paper? Show the writer what parts of the paper seem to need something more or seem to
raise questions that remain unanswered for you.
3. What do you think the paper’s main point or message is? What is the writer’s central
concern?
Here are some phrases that you might use when you write your feedback:
“I really like the way you say this.”
“This part is very clear to me.”
“This part is not clear to me. What do you mean by ______________?”
“I would like to know more about ___________________.”
“I think your main point is that _______________. Is that right?”
Also ask questions to help the writer explain more and clarify any unclear parts of the draft. You
may write your questions directly on the draft and/or talk with the writer about your questions.
How Can I Use Peer Feedback?
The main benefit of peer feedback is that it allows you to see how readers respond to your work.
Feedback can help you recognize the strong points of your draft, as well as any areas that may need
further development or clarification. Professional writers often exchange their work with their
peers because their readers’ questions, suggestions, and encouragement can help them revise.
Novice writers can also help each other by sharing their honest and thoughtful reactions to each
other’s writing.
One way to make the most of peer feedback is to listen carefully to your classmates’ questions and
advice, and then decide for yourself how you can best revise your draft. Often different readers will
give you different kinds of feedback, and all of this feedback can help you see your writing from
different perspectives. However, sometimes feedback can be confusing if it is unclear or if you get
contradictory responses from different readers. What should you do in these situations? First, you
can make sure you understand readers’ feedback by asking them to clarify their comments or
questions. Talking together may help you understand readers’ feedback. Second, when you get
contradictory feedback from readers (for example, one reader says you could add details to your
introduction, but the other says you could make it shorter), then you can think carefully about both
of their perspectives and decide for yourself what would be best. Readers can offer very useful
feedback, but in the end, you are the writer of the paper, and you must decide how to revise.
Sample Peer Feedback Sheets
ELI 73: Peer Feedback
Draft 1
Reader’s Name:________________________ Writer’s Name:________________________
1. What do you think is the main point or purpose of the writer’s draft?
2. What do you think of the organization of the draft?
3. If you were the writer of this paper, what would you add or change in your next draft?
ELI 73: Peer Feedback
Draft 2
Reader’s Name: ________________________ Writer's Name:___________________________
1. What do you think are the strong points of this draft?
2. Are any parts of the draft unclear to you?
3. What suggestions do you have for the writer?
Some Questions to Guide Peer Feedback
Depending on the assignment and the paper’s stage of development, any of these questions may be
useful for focusing peer feedback. Choose a few from the list or create your own!
What do you think is the writer’s purpose?
What is the writer’s argument?
How does the writer support his/her argument?
How does the writer use research sources?
What evidence does the writer give to support his/her position?
Is this evidence convincing? Why/why not?
Who is the writer’s audience?
Is the writing appropriate for this audience?
What do you think of the organization of this draft?
What do you think of the draft’s introduction and conclusion?
What do you like about this draft?
What has the writer done well?
Are any parts of the draft unclear to you?
What questions do you have for the writer?
Where could the writer explain more?
If you were the writer of this paper, what would you do to revise this draft?
What could the writer do to make this draft easier to read/more interesting/more persuasive?
What changes or additions do you recommend?
Peer Feedback: A Note to Instructors
by Kelly McClanahan, revised 11/29/04
Find a useful explanation of peer response written by HyunJung Shin and Steven Talmy in the ELI
Writing Handbook (available through the Online Resource Room).
Peer feedback activities can be particularly useful after students have done their first or second
drafts of a paper.1 Both the writer and reader of a draft can benefit from peer feedback; the writer
can see a classmate’s perspective on the draft, and the reader can see how another classmate has
approached the same assignment. It’s crucial for students to understand the purpose and advantages
of giving and receiving peer feedback; this can also help them realize the social nature of academic
writing, in the sense that they are always writing for a particular audience. Having a classmate (or
several classmates) respond to their drafts can help student writers think in terms of writing for an
audience.
Once they grow accustomed to peer response activities, students may become eager to read and
share their drafts with each other. Conversely, students may resist these activities if they do not feel
comfortable giving or receiving feedback, if they do not feel qualified to comment on their
classmates’ work, or if they do not see their classmates as helpful readers. To prevent this situation,
instructors can work to create a safe, comfortable classroom environment before introducing peer
response. They can also emphasize the advantages of peer feedback, or better yet, have the class
brainstorm and discuss potential benefits and problems, and ways of handling these problems.
Also, having the whole class practice responding to the same (anonymous) sample paper can show
students the kinds of issues that may arise when giving feedback. This warm-up activity can also
allow the instructor to model particular kinds of feedback, while pointing out that there is no single
‘right’ way to give feedback.
Peer feedback activities can be structured to respond to the particular goals of an assignment. The
questions on the peer feedback handout given here can serve as a general guide, but instructors and
students can also create their own focus questions. For instance, in responding to a draft of a
research paper, students may focus on questions such as, “What kind of evidence does the writer
give to support his/her argument? Is this evidence convincing?” or “What do you think about the
way evidence from research sources is included in this draft?” It may help to give students brief
handouts (I like to use half-sheets) that list a few questions they should respond to after reading
each draft. After writing down their comments and questions, the readers can give their feedback
sheets to the writers, who can use them when they revise the draft.
I have found that peer feedback is best done in groups of 3 or 4 (depending on the amount of time
available and the length of the drafts). This way, each student can read a few different drafts and
receive feedback from at least two classmates. This writing workshop format may take up most of a
75-minute class period. After reading each other’s work, students can talk about their papers and
explain their comments, and they might take notes or freewrite about how they plan to revise their
drafts. Instructors should address how students can use the feedback they receive, perhaps
emphasizing that they should seriously consider their readers’ comments, but that ultimately each
writer must decide how he or she will revise the draft.
1
Students can benefit from these activities at other stages of the writing process, as well. For
instance, peer feedback can be useful during prewriting or topic development; students can present
their topic and position/argument for feedback before writing.
Even after students are used to giving peer feedback, it’s useful to remind them of the purpose of
responding to each other’s work, and give them a few guidelines to help them respond. It may help
to emphasize a few key goals and the reasons for these goals:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Respond to meaning, not grammar or spelling.
Point out what you think the writer has done well.
Ask questions to help the writer expand and clarify his/her ideas.
Give detailed feedback to help the writer revise. (Simple comments such as “good” or
“unclear” are not as helpful as more detailed comments and questions such as “I like this
part because…” or “Would you explain this idea more?”.)