Calibrated Peer Review: Use of Open-Ended versus Scaffolded Evaluations

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2010, Volume 31

Hester, L. L. & B. Timmerman

Abstract

Students in a large introductory biology class peer reviewed each other's lab reports using the Calibrated Peer Review (CPR)^TM website (http://cpr.molsci.ucla.edu). Half of the students used a more scaffolded evaluation method whereas the other half used a more open-ended evaluation method. Final paper grades did not differ much between the two groups. Both groups had an overall negative evaluation of the process, in many cases due to technical difficulties with the site and the amount of time required. Draft text and calibration text scores were slightly but significantly correlated with final paper grade. Both groups of students found peer comments more useful than feedback from calibration text scoring. However, significantly more students from the scaffolded-evaluation group found the calibration procedure useful. Students in the more open-ended evaluation group had more difficulty matching the calibration text scoring and therefore received slightly lower CPR grades.

Keywords:  calibrated peer review, peer review

University of Delaware (2009)