Exploring the Composition Process of Peer Feedback

Abstract

This paper presents a study that explores the composition process of peer feedback. It adopts an interactional framework for feedback that takes into account feedback sender’s and recipient’s factors. Participants were pre-service mathematics teachers (N = 47) enrolled in a course about feedback and assessment. Quantitative content analysis was used to analyze students’ reflections after being involved in a peer feedback provision activity on a geometry construction task. Students’ reflections illustrated that the composition process is not purely cognitive, and can also involve self-reflection and self-evaluation activities as well as peer-related activities. Some examples of self- and peer-related activities during peer feedback composition are reported, followed by a discussion of implications for using peer feedback as a learning activity.