The Formal Report Peer-Review was the third peer-review assignment completed during the term.
I reviewed the Formal Report Draft of my group member, Kashish Garg. Kashish wrote an excellent report on the feasibility of switching Biology lab sections to an ungraded approach at the University of British Columbia. In fact, the paper was so well written that I found it difficult to come up with suggestions for improvement. I focused primarily on offering suggestions around sentence structure and clarity. There were a few instances where I found unsubstantiated claims in the report and asked for further clarification, but these instances were rare.
I learned a great deal in reviewing Kashish’s report. With respect to the content, I was unaware that an ungraded approach to lab courses existed. I found it interesting that there are professors that support this method, and that there is research to support the claim that it is beneficial for students’ learning. Given that the method relies on students’ self-reflections, I originally thought this would make it much more difficult for instructors to properly assess students and come up with a final grade for them at the end of the term. With respect to the writing and structure, I similarly learned a great deal. Kashish wrote a fantastic Limitations section, identifying to the reader where the research may not be sufficient and how these could impact the list of recommendations. This is something that I ended up including in my own final draft of the Formal Report. Kashish also provided comments on research against the ungraded approach, which certainly helped to support the credibility of the report. This is one other aspect that I attempted to work into the final draft of my own report.
The review process for this assignment was enlightening, and I have very much appreciated the opportunity to participate in these reviews in several instances throughout the term!