ComPAIR: A New Online Tool Using Adaptive Comparative Judgement to Support Learning with Peer Feedback

Peer feedback is a useful strategy in teaching and learning, but its effectiveness particularly in introductory courses can be limited by the relative newness of students to both the body of knowledge upon which they are being asked to provide feedback and the skill set involved in providing good fe...

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Main Authors: Tiffany Potter, Letitia Englund, James Charbonneau, Mark Thomson MacLean, Jonathan Newell, Ido Roll
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Calgary 2017-09-01
Series:Teaching & Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:http://tlijournal.com/tli/index.php/TLI/article/view/156
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spelling doaj-169e43ac8731455489761c6f7b5e14c82020-11-25T03:46:36ZengUniversity of CalgaryTeaching & Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal2167-47792167-47872017-09-01528911310.20343/teachlearninqu.5.2.8132ComPAIR: A New Online Tool Using Adaptive Comparative Judgement to Support Learning with Peer FeedbackTiffany Potter0Letitia Englund1James Charbonneau2Mark Thomson MacLean3Jonathan Newell4Ido Roll5University of British ColumbiaUniversity of British ColumbiaUniversity of British ColumbiaUniversity of British ColumbiaUniversity of British ColumbiaUniversity of British ColumbiaPeer feedback is a useful strategy in teaching and learning, but its effectiveness particularly in introductory courses can be limited by the relative newness of students to both the body of knowledge upon which they are being asked to provide feedback and the skill set involved in providing good feedback. This paper applies a novel approach to facilitating novice feedback: making use of students’ inherent ability to compare. The ComPAIR application discussed in this article scaffolds peer feedback through comparisons, asking students to choose the “better” of two answers in a series of pairings offered in an engaging online context. In contrast to other peer-feedback approaches that seek to train novices to be able to provide expert feedback (such as calibrated peer review) or to crowdsource grading, ComPAIR focuses upon the benefits to be gained from the critical process of comparison and ranking. The tool design is based on the longstanding psychological principle of comparative judgement, by which novices who may not yet have the compass to assess others’ work confidently can still rank content as “better” with accuracy. Data from 168 students in pilot studies in English, Physics and Math courses at the University of British Columbia are reviewed. Though the use of ComPAIR required little classroom time, students perceived this approach to increase their facility with course content, their ability assess their own work, and their capacity to provide feedback on the work of others in a collaborative learning environment.http://tlijournal.com/tli/index.php/TLI/article/view/156peer feedback, answer comparison, adaptive comparative judgement, online teaching tools, collaborative learning
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Tiffany Potter
Letitia Englund
James Charbonneau
Mark Thomson MacLean
Jonathan Newell
Ido Roll
spellingShingle Tiffany Potter
Letitia Englund
James Charbonneau
Mark Thomson MacLean
Jonathan Newell
Ido Roll
ComPAIR: A New Online Tool Using Adaptive Comparative Judgement to Support Learning with Peer Feedback
Teaching & Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal
peer feedback, answer comparison, adaptive comparative judgement, online teaching tools, collaborative learning
author_facet Tiffany Potter
Letitia Englund
James Charbonneau
Mark Thomson MacLean
Jonathan Newell
Ido Roll
author_sort Tiffany Potter
title ComPAIR: A New Online Tool Using Adaptive Comparative Judgement to Support Learning with Peer Feedback
title_short ComPAIR: A New Online Tool Using Adaptive Comparative Judgement to Support Learning with Peer Feedback
title_full ComPAIR: A New Online Tool Using Adaptive Comparative Judgement to Support Learning with Peer Feedback
title_fullStr ComPAIR: A New Online Tool Using Adaptive Comparative Judgement to Support Learning with Peer Feedback
title_full_unstemmed ComPAIR: A New Online Tool Using Adaptive Comparative Judgement to Support Learning with Peer Feedback
title_sort compair: a new online tool using adaptive comparative judgement to support learning with peer feedback
publisher University of Calgary
series Teaching & Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal
issn 2167-4779
2167-4787
publishDate 2017-09-01
description Peer feedback is a useful strategy in teaching and learning, but its effectiveness particularly in introductory courses can be limited by the relative newness of students to both the body of knowledge upon which they are being asked to provide feedback and the skill set involved in providing good feedback. This paper applies a novel approach to facilitating novice feedback: making use of students’ inherent ability to compare. The ComPAIR application discussed in this article scaffolds peer feedback through comparisons, asking students to choose the “better” of two answers in a series of pairings offered in an engaging online context. In contrast to other peer-feedback approaches that seek to train novices to be able to provide expert feedback (such as calibrated peer review) or to crowdsource grading, ComPAIR focuses upon the benefits to be gained from the critical process of comparison and ranking. The tool design is based on the longstanding psychological principle of comparative judgement, by which novices who may not yet have the compass to assess others’ work confidently can still rank content as “better” with accuracy. Data from 168 students in pilot studies in English, Physics and Math courses at the University of British Columbia are reviewed. Though the use of ComPAIR required little classroom time, students perceived this approach to increase their facility with course content, their ability assess their own work, and their capacity to provide feedback on the work of others in a collaborative learning environment.
topic peer feedback, answer comparison, adaptive comparative judgement, online teaching tools, collaborative learning
url http://tlijournal.com/tli/index.php/TLI/article/view/156
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