Students are increasingly being asked to comment on each other’s work. This is called peer feedback. ‘Peer’ means ‘fellow student’ or ‘colleague’, so someone at the same level as you. Often, you will have to comment on a written assignment, such as a paper, or an oral presentation. Sometimes you will be asked to provide feedback to one or more students. You must then submit your feedback to the student in question and the lecturer. Although peer feedback is often not a concrete requirement for passing a course, it is impossible to imagine group work without it.

There are several reasons why lecturers encourage their students to give each other feedback, a few of which are listed below. By commenting on someone else’s work…

• You get inspiration for your own work (could I have done it like that?).
• You will better understand the assessment criteria for the relevant assignment and you can also brush up your own work.
• You can discuss the ideal end result with fellow students.

You can practice giving feedback during the programme. Employers really appreciate it if you have mastered that skill.

First of all, it is important to understand and remember what ‘feedback’ actually is. Feedback is a commentary and not a value judgement (you do not give personal compliments or criticism). You give feedback to point out to your fellow student the difference between their product and the ideal product. You can deduce what the ideal product is from the assignment description. To give feedback, you need to know the conditions that have been set for the assignment. These are objective requirements with which all students have to comply.

Furthermore, the best feedback is specific. ‘Good’ does not really tell us much. Much more useful is, for example: ‘You interchange short and long sentences well’. A few general remarks at the bottom of the paper are often not very useful. It is better to use clear examples from the text (or presentation) or write comments in the margin.
Nevertheless, the recipient might still not understand your feedback. Be prepared to explain your ideas and do not think: I have said what I have to say and that’s that. After all, giving feedback is not a one-way process. Finally, commenting on other people’s work is not an end in itself, but a means of helping someone on their way. Therefore, adjust the amount of feedback to the amount that they can process in one go.

[collapse title= “Here are a few tips for those receiving feedback from someone else”]

• Appreciate that the feedback is about your work, not you as a person.
• Ask for clarification (or an example) where necessary.
• Think about whether the feedback has changed your mind. If so, make changes to your work. You should not just blindly copy what someone else thinks. After all, a lecturer ultimately assesses the extent to which you have fulfilled the assignment. If you want to use the ideas someone gave you in their feedback, do not literally copy their comments or sentences; put them in your own words and work them into your text.[/collapse]