Using Peer Reviews in Discussions in ISU Canvas

This article provides instructions on how to enable peer reviews in Discussions in ISU Canvas at Idaho State University (ISU). 

When creating a discussion, you can require students to comment and provide feedback on another student's work/post. 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.

• Adding Peer Reviews to a Discussion
• Editing or Deleting Student Discussion Posts
• Automatically Assigning Peer Reviews
• Summarizing Canvas Discussions for Peer Review

1. Click on the discussion to open it.
2. Create a graded discussion by selecting the Graded checkbox.
3. Determine if you are going to manually assign peer reviews or automatically assign peer reviews - Select the radio button next to the option you prefer. 
   1. If you choose to automatically assign peer reviews, once you select the radio button the menu will expand.
   2. In the Reviews Per Student field, enter the number of reviews each student will be required to complete. 
   3. You can allow intra-group peer reviews by clicking the Allow intra-group peer reviews checkbox.
4. In the Assign Reviews field, use the calendar icon to select a date or manually enter a date for when peer reviews will be assigned to students. Note: If left blank, Canvas will use the discussion due date as the peer review assign date. Note: The Due Date you assign to the discussion indicates the due date for a student's initial post - it is recommended that you indicate the due date for student reviews within the discussion instructions.
5. If you are ready to publish your discussion, click the Save and Publish button. If you want to create a draft of your discussion and publish it later, click the Save button.
6. If you wish to attach a rubric to the discussion for students to fill out when completing peer reviews, click the Options icon (3 dots), then click the Add Rubric link and create the grading rubric.

Note: If a student sees and "Access Denied" message when clicking the Review Now link, it means that they have not made their own initial post. Students are required to reply to the discussion first, then click the Review Now link.

For more information, see: How do I create a peer review discussion? (external link) and How do I use peer review discussions in a course (external link).

As an instructor, you have the ability to edit or delete discussion replies within your course. This setting helps you moderate your course and remove any inappropriate or otherwise unwanted posts. You can also choose to view or hide all deleted replies in a discussion. By default, deleted replies are hidden in a discussion.

1. Click the name of the discussion.
2. Locate the student reply you want to edit and click the Options menu (3 dots), then select the Edit option.
3. Edit the discussion reply in the Rich Content Editor. To post your edits, click the Save button - Canvas posts a note that indicates the post has been edited. The text includes your name, and the date and time the post was edited. This entry cannot be removed.
4. To delete a student reply, click the reply Options icon, then select the Delete link. 
5. To delete the entry, click the OK button. Deleted discussion replies display the name of the user who deleted the reply as well as the date and time the reply was deleted. If a discussion reply with a threaded response is deleted, the Deleted notification always displays and is not hidden from view.

For more information, see the Canvas article, How do I edit or delete student discussion replies in a course? (external link)

If you automatically assign peer reviews to a discussion, Canvas will assign peer reviews to students automatically once they have submitted their own discussion reply. You can tell Canvas to automatically assign peer reviews after an assignment due date has passed.

• It may take up to one hour for Canvas to assign peer reviews.
• If the student has not submitted the assignment or submits the assignment after the due date, the student will not automatically be assigned a per review and you must manually assign one.
• Before being able to complete their assigned peer reviews, students must post their own discussion reply first.
• If you do not want students to view the replies of others before submitting their own replies, select the discussion option Participants must respond to the topic before viewing other replies.
• 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 manually adjust assigned peer reviews.
• You can allow intra-group peer reviews by clicking the Allow intra-group peer reviews checkbox.

For more information see the Canvas article, How do I automatically assign peer reviews for a discussion?

Process

• Students post their work in a discussion.
• Reviewers can be assigned with one of the following options:
  • Students choose which posts to comment on,
  • Instructors manually assign reviewers,
  • Instructors set ISU Canvas to automatically assign reviewers.

Benefits

• Students can be allowed to choose who they review.
• A rubric can be used for peer comments.

Caveats

• All initial work is public.
• Peer reviews can only be created in graded discussions.
• There is no option to make the reviews anonymous.

• Chat with Canvas Support for Faculty (external link)
• Canvas Instructor Guides (external link)
• Visit the ITRC Portal for answers to common questions (external link)
• For additional assistance email AnswersITRC@isu.edu (external link)