Peer feedback across cultures and contexts: CRADLE double seminar

7 December 2017

The influence of peers on self-assessment, asymmetry in peer review and cross-cultural understandings of feedback were just some of the topics discussed in a fascinating CRADLE double seminar presented by Dr Jessica To (University of Hong Kong) and Qiyun (Judy) Zhu (University of Hong Kong/Guangdong University of Foreign Studies).

Jessica first discussed her research into the role of peers in the self-assessment process of undergraduate students from a leading Hong Kong university. While some challenges to peer involvement were identified – including the competitive culture fostered by high-stakes assessment and student scepticism of peer competence – Jessica found that, overall, peer involvement makes a very positive contribution to students’ self-assessment. Self- and peer assessment for formative tasks helped students to develop their summative assessments, and students reported that they found the involvement of their peers to be innovative, enjoyable, and a source of emotional support.

Great @CRADLEdeakin seminar by Jessica To on self assessment and peer involvement. Related paper: https://t.co/vHErXKFFCY

— Phillip Dawson (@phillipdawson) December 3, 2017

Judy then introduced her research, which she is conducting as part of her PhD and which explores Chinese students’ engagement with asynchronous online cross-cultural peer review. For her study, Judy investigated cross-cultural peer review between Chinese students studying English and US students; as she explained, students learning a second language can encounter significant challenges when first encountering native speakers from their target language.

While there has been some controversy around the cultural appropriateness of peer review for Chinese students, Judy found that the students in her study experienced a wide range of positive emotional and cognitive benefits – including enhanced knowledge about writing skills and improved language and socio-cultural awareness. In addition, the asynchronous online nature of the peer review allowed the Chinese students an opportunity to consult resources and form their responses, rather than the ‘on-the-spot’ demands of synchronous communication. Judy emphasised that task design and careful scaffolding is essential to support and engage students in cross-cultural peer review.

Jessica’s and Judy’s presentations were followed by a Q&A session and lively discussion. CRADLE’s Associate Director, A/Prof. Phillip Dawson, and CRADLE Research Fellow, Dr Joanna Tai, reflect on the double seminar below:

Phill: Hearing Jessica and Judy talk made me think about feedback cultures and contexts. So much of what we know about ‘what works’ in feedback actually comes from a really limited set of places. We don’t always acknowledge the cultural assumptions that are bundled in with our understandings of effective feedback. It’s crucial that we as a research community challenge understandings of feedback that only really hold up in the English-speaking world.

These talks also made me think about asymmetry in peer feedback, and how it can actually be a good thing. Different parties in a peer feedback exchange can be getting different things out of it, such as the Chinese students and American students in Judy’s study. This sparked lots of thoughts around how we could pair up other different groups of students around peer feedback – different year levels, different professions, different cultures etc.

Jo: The seminars were especially interesting for me given my past work on peer learning. Both Jessica & Judy’s work spurred me to thoughts of how we could productively research peer feedback and students’ feedback literacy in cross-cultural situations, which exist both here and in China. Jessica’s work also reminded us of the important links between self and peer assessment – that they do influence each other – and this (pleasingly!) fits well with our work on evaluative judgement. So there are several synergies there, and we hope to move forward with some research project ideas in the following months.

You can view Jessica’s and Judy’s slides from their presentations here:

• The role of peers in mediating first-year undergraduates’ self assessment process, Dr Jessica To
• Chinese students’ engagement in asynchronous online cross-cultural peer-review through the lens of self-regulated learning and feedback triangle, Qiyun (Judy) Zhu