The Power of Peer Feedback – the Story of Austin’s Butterfly

We know that good feedback (formative assessment) in self-regulated learning increases success (see Formative assessment and self‐regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice: Studies in Higher Education: Vol 31, No 2 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1080/03075070600572090?scroll=top&needAccess=true#.WEF25TH_nOc.twitter  among others).

This video “The Story of Austin’s Butterfly” is an excellent example of this process with peer feedback. The specific feedback the students give to increase the quality and accuracy of the butterfly picture begs some questions that I hope you will ask after watching this video:

  • Is our feedback to students helping them improve?
  • Are we giving feedback early enough in the semester so that they can improve?
  • Are we willing to give feedback enough times to allow for student improvement?
  • How can we leverage peer feedback in a positive way? (Maybe this video could be used as an example for even graduate students…)