How do I use peer review discussions in a course?

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A peer review discussion enables students to provide feedback on another student's reply to a class discussion. Peer reviews are a tool that allows communication between students and can help students master the concepts of a course and learn from each other.

Peer reviews can only be added as part of a graded discussion. Unlike peer review assignments, discussions cannot be assigned anonymously.

Also unlike assignments, discussions do not allow students to complete peer reviews for students in other groups. When you require peer reviews for a group discussion, students can only complete peer reviews for discussion replies made by other students in their group.

View Peer Review Discussions

When you or a TA create a peer review graded discussion, you can assign peer reviews manually or you can have Canvas assign them automatically [1].

When a peer review has been assigned, students can view a notification in their Dashboard To Do sidebar or Activity Stream [2]. Students will also receive an email notification.

View Peer Review Comments

To complete a peer review, students must review the discussion and leave a comment on the submission details page [1].

Students cannot view previously submitted comments by any other reviewers, including comments by TAs or other instructors.

You can also assign a rubric to the graded discussion. If the discussion includes a rubric [2], students must only complete the rubric to complete the peer review. However, you can choose to ask your students to also leave a comment in the comment sidebar. The rubric score is used for an assessment opinion only; you must review the graded discussion and assign the final grade.

View Peer Review Grades

Students do not receive a grade for completing a peer review. If you want to assign extra points for peer reviews, you can create a No Submission assignment in the Gradebook and assign points manually. The Peer Review page for the discussion will show the names of students who have completed the peer review.