Two Peer Reviews Equivalent to One Expert Assessor in Scholar : In a study of two grade 8 classes in a New York City school, students used Scholar to write scientific arguments and provide each other with peer formative assessment, during a process of drafting, review and revision. The students were provided with explicit review criteria during the first draft. They then reviewed other students’ work against these criteria, and finally used the feedback to rewrite their own texts.

The study found a strikingly low level of disagreement on rating of assessment criteria between peers and even less between peers and an expert assessor. So when review criteria are clearly specified, 2 peer reviews are equivalent to the feedback of an expert assessor such as a teacher.

The keys to success in this study were metacognitive awareness, formative assessment, and the collaborative process of giving and receiving feedback.

Cope, Bill, Kalantzis, Mary, Abd-El-Khalick, Fouad, & Bagley, Elizabeth. 2013. “Science in Writing: Learning Scientific Argument in Principle and Practice.” e-Learning and Digital Media10, no. 4.