Abstract:

The use of peer feedback groups in higher education is a recognized method aimed at supporting students in building academic writing competencies (Elbow 1973, Dysthe et al. 2001, Paulus 1999, van der Pol et al. 2008). However, the structure required for students to work efficiently in feedback groups can be difficult for them to maintain. Based on nine years’ experience in facilitating peer feedback groups, we will point out several problems with current methods of face-to-face peer feedback and propose a reconceptualization of the peer feedback process as an educational game in order to overcome these problems. By drawing on the game metaphor, game theory and well-known elements of games (turn taking, time taking, a game master, rules and sanctions, Salen & Zimmermann, 2006), the structure essential for working with peer feedback can be rendered both visible to and socially acceptable for the students. Furthermore, the game framework offers a way to manage the tension that often arises when peers give each other feedback.

Use of the feedback game with 130 university students in five different settings suggest that the game conceptualization offers the majority of students an efficient way of initially learning to work in peer feedback groups as well as supporting the feedback process as a whole. Tests (play testing, Salen & Zimmermann, 2006, combined with observations, interviews and a small scale survey) indicate that teaching and using peer feedback as a method are more efficient and enjoyable for students new to peer feedback when these activities are structured as a game rather than learned from textbooks.

References:
Dysthe, O., Hertzberg, F. & Hoel T. L. (2001). Skrive for at lære [Writing to learn]. Aarhus: Klim.

Elbow, P. (1973). Writing without teachers. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Juul, J. 2003. The Game, the Player, the World: Looking for a Heart of Gameness. In: M. Copier and J. Raessens, ed. Level Up: Digital Games Research Conference Proceedings. Utrecht: Utrecht University, pp. 30-45.

Paulus. (1999) The effect of peer and teacher feedback on student writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 8 (3), 265-289

Salen, K. & Zimmerman, E. (2006). The Game Design Reader – a Rules of Play Anthology. The MIT Press.

Topping, K. J. (1998). Peer assessment between students in college and university. Review of Educational Research, 68(3), 249-276.

Van Der Pol, J., Van Den Berg, B. M., Admiraal, W., & Simons, P. J. (2008). The nature, reception, and use of online peer feedback in higher education. Computers & Education, 51(4), 1804-1817.

Keywords:

Academic writing, educational games, peer-feedback.