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Peer feedback can often feel pretty scary. It can be scary to try to think of feedback for another person and it can be scary to receive feedback too.

But don’t worry. We do so much peer feedback in Change Makers, that half the time you won’t even realise that you are doing it.

For example, in the picture at the top of the page, students in their first class of the year were making a note of everything they knew about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and some key questions that they wanted to research. Each team of students wrote this on a big sheet of flip chart paper. The students then swapped paper with another team, who added their own ideas using post-it notes. When the team got their original paper back, there were loads of fresh ideas to help them develop their own research even further. This was not a scary or intimidating process. It was a way of sharing ideas. But it was also peer feedback.

Peer feedback can be very informal as in that example, or it can be a more formal process. But however it occurs, it is a phenomenal way to learn and develop your own work and thinking.

When I was a student, I was very bad at writing. I couldn’t understand how to make my writing any better. My teachers gave me lots of feedback, but I didn’t seem to improve at all. Then we did a peer review exercise, and I read lots of writing done by other students. Although the task was for me to give them feedback, I actually got lots of ideas for myself (it was like they were giving me feedback just by letting me read their work). For the first time, I understood how I could write better. I could use the examples from the other students to actually improve my own work. I wasn’t copying what the other students had written, but I was learning from ‘how’ they had written it. It was the most transformative and powerful learning I ever did at university.

Dr Elizabeth Hauke, Field Leader, Change Makers
Giving peer feedback

Giving good feedback can be really tricky. But the most important thing is to imagine that you are giving the feedback to yourself. How would you feel if you were reading that feedback?

When you are writing feedback you should be as kind as possible. You are not telling someone what they have got wrong or not done well. You are suggesting things that might make their work even better.

Don’t forget that good feedback is also about celebrating what someone has done well. Don’t be afraid to include compliments. In fact, it is always good to start and end with the things that you enjoyed the most, and put your suggestions for improvements in the middle of your feedback (a feedback sandwich).

If you think something needs attention, try not to say that something is wrong, but rather suggest how it could be better.

Remember that you are a student too. Your opinion might not be right. So rather than stating your feedback as facts, make sure that you make it clear that you are offering an opinion. A good way to do that is to say

‘I found this section a bit confusing. Do you think subtitles might help?’

rather than to say

‘This section is confusing. You should use subtitles to make it clearer.’

Can you see the difference?

Here is a great (short) paper that might help you to think about how to give feedback to others, and also how feedback can help you.

Receiving peer feedback

When you receive comments from another student, be brave. Remember that they are trying to help you improve your own work. Hopefully they will be very good at giving feedback and there will be lots of useful tips that you can use to improve your work. But remember, they are learning to give feedback, just as you are learning to receive it. So don’t take your feedback personally. If you feel upset by anything, please raise it with your teacher, they will want to know and help.

If you don’t find the feedback useful, you could ask the student that provided it to give you more detail or examples. Often a discussion can reveal new insights.

However, you can also choose to disagree. You know your own work, and if you don’t agree with a piece of feedback, you have every right to disregard it.

The other student might not have understood what you were trying to achieve, or they might not be very good at giving feedback. Remember, we are all learning together.

You don’t need to have an argument or say this directly to the student that provided the feedback. You can make this decision by yourself or in discussion with your teacher.

Your Change Makers teacher will be very alert to the sensitive nature of peer feedback, and you can always discuss any concerns with them.

Responding to peer feedback

When you receive peer feedback in a more formal process, we always give you the chance to record your own response to the feedback directly on the feedback form.

Our feedback forms have a space for you to write a response about the actual feedback before considering whether you want to incorporate it into your final work. This shows your teacher that you have considered the feedback. Your teacher won’t expect you to automatically make changes to your work, so this is an important step in the process.

Your teacher will also be looking to provide feedback about the feedback – so if you received some unhelpful feedback, you can rest assured that your teacher will speak to that student and help them to understand how to give better feedback in the future.

Last updated 3rd October 2023