Why Do Students Dislike Peer Feedback?

Engineers are required to communicate in a range of formats, including written reports, but this skill does not come naturally to undergraduates. Typical approaches to teaching writing skills require small class sizes, expert staff, and multiple cycles of feedback. These approaches, while successful, are difficult to scale and do not always result in students being able to transfer their writing skills to other units/topics. The School of Civil, Aerospace, and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bristol teaches writing skills mainly within a single 20-credit first-year unit, delivered to 550-650 students per year. Students are required to complete a number of athome labs and write up various sections of a lab report for a series of four formative assessments. A peer review process follows each formative task to encourage engagement with the assessment criteria, encourage reflection and self-regulation, and provide prompt feedback on work. The benefits of peer review and feedback are well known and are carefully explained to students. However, each year, a relatively small but vocal number of students are reluctant to engage with it and express a strong preference for staff feedback. This project evaluated student perceptions and experiences of the peer review process using a survey and focus groups. Results suggest that although students recognise many benefits of peer reviews, they lack confidence in their ability to provide it, leading to apparent reluctance to engage. This highlights the importance of providing support and training as part of the process.