Overview
Canvas is Oregon State University's Learning Management System.
Getting Started
Assignments can be created that allow students to submit and then peer review one or more of their classmates submissions. Some of the design questions to answer prior to creating a peer review include:
- Number of Reviews: How many peer reviews will each student give?
- Feedback: What type of feedback will peer reviewers be providing? Inline commenting, attachments (i.e. downloading to word), video, audio, text, and/or rubrics?
- Grading: Will you give credit for the submission of the assignment to be reviewed; will you give credit for completing peer reviews, etc.?
Creating the Assignment
Full instructions with pictures are provided in the Canvas Guides: How do I create a peer review assignment?
- Create a new Assignment in Canvas
- Check the box next to the Require Peer Reviews option
- Select whether you want to manually assign the peer reviews or have Canvas automatically assign the peer reviews.
- If automatic assignment is selected, enter the number of reviews to be assigned and set the date you want Canvas to assign the reviews.
NOTE: Peer reviews will only be assigned to students who have submitted their assignment. Students who have not submitted will not be peer reviewed or have peer reviews assigned automatically.
- If manual assignment is selected, see below for managing peer reviews
- Select whether the peer reviews should be anonymous.
- If peer reviews should be anonymous, provide students with instruction to NOT include their name within their assignment or the assignment file!
- Select other assignment settings as desired
- Click Save and Publish
Managing Peer Reviews
An instructor can add or remove peer reviews from individuals regardless of whether they selected automatic or manual assignment. If manual assignment is selected, the instructor must use the following steps to assign peer reviews.
- Navigate to the assignment in Canvas (do not edit the assignment)
- Click Peer Reviews from the menu on the right of the screen (will only be visible if the assignment is published)
- Assign peer reviews using one of the following methods:
Manual Assignment
- Locate the student to perform the peer review
- Click "Give ____ another submission to assess"
- Select the student to be peer reviewed from the dropdown list and click Add
Automatic Assignment
- Enter the number of reviews to be assigned in the box on the right side of the screen
- Click Assign Peeer Reviews below the number of reviews
NOTE: Peer reviews will only be assigned to students who have submitted their assignment. Students who have not submitted will not be peer reviewed or have peer reviews assigned automatically.
Student Instructions for Completing a Peer Review
It can be difficult for students to know how to access and complete a peer review in Canvas. We recommend providing students with the following resources, and sending an announcement to remind students of the peer review(s) and completion date(s).
Reviewing Peer Reviews
Instructors can see all peer review feedback from the Canvas SpeedGrader page, including all peer reviewer comments, annotations, and rubrics. Peer reviewers can only see their own comments; they cannot see responses from the student who was peer reviewed. The student who was peer reviewed will be able to see all feedback on their assignment; names of peer reviewers will be displayed as "Anonymous User" if the peer reviews were set to be anonymous.
Instructors can review whether any peer reviews have not been completed and send reminders to students who have incomplete peer reviews by clicking the Peer Reviews button from the assignment overview page. Completed peer reviews displaye a green checkmark and incomplete peer reviews display a black exclamation mark.
Still have questions?
If you questions about this topic or related topics, please use one of the following methods to contact the Canvas team at Oregon State:
- Add a comment/question to this article using the tools below the article
- Send an email to Canvas@oregonstate.edu