The role of peer and tutor feedback
My classmates and I were asked to write various articles
on our individual blogs which will be part of our e-portfolio at the end of the
module. To help one another improve, we commented on each other’s blog to give
one another constructive feedback and criticism. I gave my comments to those
who wrote a summary of the same article as me as I would have a better
understanding of the article and could thus write a more constructive feedback
for that person.
In the beginning, I felt that giving others feedback was
not productive as I am limited to my own knowledge. Furthermore, my command of
English is not very good and I may cause my classmates to make more mistakes in
their article rather than helping them. After reading my classmates’ articles
multiple times, I realized I could pick up minor mistakes such as subject-verb
agreement error and grammatical errors in their articles. I felt a sense of
accomplishment and happiness when I noticed them correcting their articles with
regards to my comments.
Peer feedback is an effective way of learning as we
can learn from one another. Firstly, as we read each other’s take on the same
article, we might realize that there are a couple of things we have left out or
misinterpreted in our own article. Secondly, by reading another persons’
article, we are indirectly reflecting on our own articles as well. Therefore,
peer feedback plays a significant role in my learning process as I am not only
limited to learning from my professors but I can learn from my classmates as
well.
From this experience, I realized that in order to help
one another improve, we need to consistently give one another feedback. This is
especially important as every single module that my classmates and I are taking
involves project where we have to work in teams. Giving each other constructive
feedback will not only allow us to see the problem in 2 different perspective
but also allows more solutions to be generated. After all, there is a saying
that goes, ‘two brains are better than one’.
Thanks, Greg, for describing clearly and concisely what we have done this term in the way of using feedback. You note that giving such feedback can pose problems for writers like yourself who don't have confidence. I'm glad you eventually were able to do this and that you felt a sense of accomplishment when you noted that some peer would make changes in their writing based on your suggestions.
ReplyDeleteIt's also good to know that you feel that giving and getting feedback could easily be something that you do in other modules since you do work in teams. But how then would that best be handled? What would be the process? Have you done that already, say, for your other papers this term?
Whatever the case, I appreciate all your hard work this term and the serious effort to improve. Best wishes as you continue your learning journey. :)