Voucherproject Lies Verberk
Voucherproject Lies Verberk

Testing out software for written peer feedback

TLC voucherproject

Motivation

Lecturers at the Nijmegen School of Management would like to implement more peer feedback in their education, which is currently still a complex and time-consuming process. The right software for providing peer feedback on written products could relieve a considerable amount of workload. Could the peer feedback software Eduflow make this easier for lecturers and students?

Desired solution

Even though Radboud University offers different types of software that simplify providing feedback, there is no software yet that supports you in providing peer feedback on written products.

The programme Eduflow seems well suited for this purpose and has already partly been tested by the digital learning environment (DLO) management team at Radboud University. Their experience was overwhelmingly positive. As Eduflow seems to facilitate peer feedback on written work well, the expectation of participating lecturers is that Eduflow fits their issue and can be helpful.

The goal for this voucher project is therefore to test out the use of Eduflow in several courses. Lies Verberk-de Jonge will coordinate this process among seven lecturers who are implementing the software in their course. If the software turns out to be suitable, it could also be used university-wide hereafter.

Action plan

Before the software is tested in the different courses, Lies is first assessing the privacy and security of the programme together with an information manager from the Domain Education team. If the software passes this assessment, a licence will be acquired and both the DLO management team as well as the Teaching Information Point at the Nijmegen School of Management will learn how the programme works and how it functions within Brightspace. This is necessary to then support lecturers when they first use the programme together with their students.

After the courses have finished, lecturers and students will provide feedback on the software. Based on this, Lies will evaluate the test together with the information manager and write a report on whether to use Eduflow in the future.

Results

For two periods, several teachers deployed Eduflow to use peer feedback in writing assignments. Lies and Joyce evaluated this process with lecturers and students. During this evaluation, the advantages and disadvantages of both the peer feedback method and the Eduflow tool were discussed.

Lecturers and students are enthusiastic about the use of peer feedback and the possibilities offered by the Eduflow tool. Students experience no disadvantages and say they learn a lot from each other's feedback. Lecturers share this enthusiasm and also notice that students come to the study group better prepared and more involved, but at the same time identify a challenge in the way peer feedback can be organised in a user-friendly way.

Unfortunately, the Eduflow tool is no longer available. Participating lecturers therefore continue to look for a suitable tool that can support them in the practical and user-friendly implementation of peer feedback in their courses.

Funding

This project is funded by a TLC voucher from the Radboud Teaching and Learning Centre. This voucher programme aims to set up projects in the field of educational innovation, lecturer development and educational research.

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Contact information

Would you like to know more? Do not hesitate to contact the voucher stakeholder.