Create Peer Review Discussions
A peer review discussion enables students to provide feedback on another student's reply to a class discussion. Peer reviews are a tool that allows communication between students and can help students master the concepts of a course and learn from each other.
Peer reviews can only be added as part of a graded discussion. Unlike peer review assignments, discussions cannot be assigned anonymously.
Also unlike assignments, discussions do not allow students to complete peer reviews for students in other groups. When you require peer reviews for a group discussion, students can only complete peer reviews for discussion replies made by other students in their group.
View Peer Review Discussions
When you or a TA create a peer review graded discussion, you can assign peer reviews manually or you can have Canvas assign them automatically [1].
When a peer review has been assigned, students can view a notification in their Dashboard To Do sidebar or Activity Stream [2]. Students will also receive an email notification.
View Peer Review Comment
To complete a peer review, students must review the discussion and leave a comment on the submission details page.
Students cannot view previously submitted comments by any other reviewers, including comments by TAs or other instructors.
You can also assign a rubric to the graded discussion. If the discussion includes a rubric, students must only complete the rubric to complete the peer review. However, you can choose to ask your students to also leave a comment in the comment sidebar. The rubric score is used for an assessment opinion only; you must review the graded discussion and assign the final grade.
View Peer Review Grades
Students do not receive a grade for completing a peer review. If you want to assign extra points for peer reviews, you can create a No Submission assignment in the Gradebook and assign points manually. The Peer Review page for the discussion will show the names of students who have completed the peer review.
When creating a discussion, you can require students to comment and provide feedback of another student's work.
Peer reviews can only be created with graded discussions and do not have an anonymous option.
For peer reviews, you can choose to manually assign peer reviews or automatically assign peer reviews. To complete the peer review, students are required to leave at least one comment. If you include a rubric, they are only required to complete the rubric.
Note: To learn how graded discussion and peer review due dates appear in a student's To Do list, view the Peer Review Tips PDF.
1. In Course Navigation, click the Discussions link.
2. To create a new discussion, click the + Discussion button.
3. Create a graded discussion by selecting the Graded checkbox.
4. Select the Require Peer Reviews checkbox [1].
5. Determine if you are going to manually assign peer reviews [2] or automatically assign peer reviews [3]. Select the radio button next to the option you prefer.
Automatically Assign Peer Reviews
If you automatically assign peer reviews, the menu will expand. In the Reviews Per User field [1], enter the number of reviews each student will be required to complete. In the Assign Reviews field [2], use the calendar icon to select a date or manually enter a date for when peer reviews will be assigned to students.
Note: If automatically assigning peer reviews, the assign reviews date must come after the discussion due date. If left blank, Canvas will use the discussion due date as the peer review assign date.
6. If you are ready to publish your discussion, click the Save & Publish button. If you want to create a draft of your discussion and publish it later, click the Save button.
When your discussion is saved in a draft state, you can return to the page and publish it at any time by clicking the Publish button.
Manually assigning peer reviews allows you to choose which students will be assigned peer reviews.
Notes:
- When manually assigning peer reviews, students can complete their assigned peer reviews without having to post their own discussion reply first. If you require students to post to the discussion before being able to complete a peer review, you must automatically assign peer reviews.
- If a student enrollment is deleted or becomes inactive, students will no longer be assigned to complete a peer review for the deleted or inactive enrollment. However, peer reviews already completed by the deleted/inactive enrollment will still display for students and instructors. If peer reviews have already been assigned, you may need to adjust assigned peer reviews.
1. In Course Navigation, click the Discussions link.
2. Click the title of the discussion.
3. Click the Options icon [1] then click the Peer Reviews link [2].
4. Below the name of a student, click the Add icon [1].
5. Click the Select Student drop-down menu and select the peer you would like the student to review [2]. Remember, a student cannot review themselves.
6. Click the Add button [3] to assign the review.
Assigned peer reviews appear underneath the students name. A check mark [1] indicates a peer review as been completed. A caution triangle [2] indicates a peer review still needs to be completed.
You can also remind students who still need to complete their assigned peer review(s). Peer review reminders are sent as notifications.
To send a reminder, hover your mouse over the assigned peer review and click the Reminder icon [1]. To cancel a peer review, click the Delete icon [2].
To manually assign or reassign a peer review, click the Give [student name] another submission to assess link [3].
If you automatically assign peer reviews, Canvas will assign peer reviews to students automatically once they have submitted their own discussion reply.
You can also tell Canvas to automatically assign peer reviews after an assignment due date has passed.
Notes:
- It may take up to one hour for Canvas to assign peer reviews.
- When using peer reviews with Groups, it is best practice to manually assign peer review discussions to students. Additionally, if the student has not submitted the assignment or submits the assignment after the due date, the student will not automatically be assigned a peer review and you must manually assign one.
- If a student enrollment is deleted or becomes inactive, students will no longer be assigned to complete a peer review for the deleted or inactive enrollment. However, peer reviews already completed by the deleted/inactive enrollment will still display for students and instructors. If peer reviews have already been assigned, you may need to adjust assigned peer reviews.
1. In Course Navigation, click the Discussions link.
2. Click the title of the discussion.
3. Click the Edit button.
4. Click the Require Peer Reviews checkbox.
5. Click the Automatically Assign Peer Reviews radio button.
6. Decide how many Reviews Per User are needed [1].
7. In the Assign Reviews field [2], use the calendar icon to select a date or manually enter a date for when peer reviews will be assigned to students. The assign reviews date must come after the discussion due date. If left blank, Canvas will use the discussion due date.
8. Click the Save button.
Open and View Assigned Peer Reviews
Click the Options icon [1] and then click the Peer Reviews link [2].
Canvas will automatically assign a peer review to the student. Assigned peer reviews appear underneath the student names. A check mark indicates a peer review has been completed. A caution triangle indicates a peer review still needs to be completed.
Note:
- It may take up to one hour for Canvas to assign peer reviews.
- If the student has not posted their discussion reply or posts their reply after the due date, the student will not automatically be assigned a peer review and you must manually assign one.
You can also remind students who still need to complete their assigned peer review(s). Peer review reminders are sent as notifications.
To send a reminder, hover your mouse over the assigned peer review and click the Reminder icon [1]. To cancel a peer review, click the Delete icon [2].
In the sidebar, you can also assign multiple peer reviews to students who have posted to the discussion but don't already have reviews assigned to them. Enter the number of reviews per user [1] then click the Assign Peer Reviews button [2].
