Using Peer Feedback to Improve Students’ Scientific Inquiry

Abstract

This article examines a 7th grade teacher’s pedagogical practices to support her students to provide peer feedback to one another using technology during scientific inquiry. This research is part of a larger study in which teachers in California and Washington and their classes engaged in inquiry projects using a Web-based system called Web of Inquiry. Videotapes of classroom lessons and artifacts such as student work were collected as part of the corpus of data. In the case examined, Ms. E supports her students to collectively define “meaningful feedback,” thereby improving the quality of feedback that was provided in the future. This is especially timely, given the attention in Next Generation Science Standards to cross-cutting concepts and practices that require students discuss and debate ideas with each other in order to improve their understanding and their written inquiry reports (NGSS, 2013).

Keywords:

• Peer feedback
• Science inquiry
• Technology
• Pedagogy

Acknowledgments

We thank the National Science Foundation for support of this work through NSF Grant REC-0337753, PI: Frederiksen and White. The perspective offered and the views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. We thank our collaborators John Frederiksen, Min Li, Todd and Linda Shimoda, and especially, Barbara White - who continues to inspire us today - for their support of this effort. We are grateful for the participation of committed, inspiring teachers who graciously allowed us to work shoulder-to-shoulder with them.