An Evaluation of Peer Review in US Graduate Research Courses

Abstract

The use of peer review is a valuable tool that can improve the quality of writing and the ability to work collaboratively in a learning community. This paper investigates the use of the peer review process in research methodology courses on the graduate level. A peer-review process was implemented with a doctoral-level course and a master-level course at a small, private university in Pennsylvania, United States of America. The researcher implemented peer-review assignments in two sixteen-week courses and measured student perceptions with a survey created for the research. A total of 27 master and doctoral students participated. The results of the study indicate that students were engaged in the activity and conveyed positive perceptions, such as increase in self-efficacy toward using a peer review process to encourage engagement in the course material. The results of this pilot study should be examined in order to promote future research on peer review as a learning strategy to increase self-efficacy of graduate students. It is also recommended that further measures be constructed to seek richer feedback on the process.