Peer feedback among international PhD students

Abstract

In a PhD course for new PhD students peer feedback was introduced to reduce teacher time on feedback and to enhance the learning environment. The results of the changes to the course are not conclusive with regards to teacher time, since there were also oth-er changes made to the programme, but overall teacher time on giving feedback has been reduced. Peer feedback in higher education is seen as one way to enhance the learning environment for students as it builds on principles of formative feedback dur-ing the course of study and when students give feedback it has been shown to enhance learning. The results from this study support this view, but improved learning was only observed after peer feedback was integrated in teaching and learning activities em-bedded in the course rather than as an add-on. This article describes and evaluates the introduction of an element of peer feedback in a PhD course. Peer feedback was introduced with the double goal of saving teacher time and enhancing learning outcomes. The changes made to the course were initiated as a development and learning project undertaken as part of my participation in the Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Programme (Universitetspædagogikum) in 2016. The aim of the article is to share experiences that indicate that this double goal is achievable when a) assessment (or feedback) criteria are explicit and shared and b) peer feedback is an integral part of the course.