Effects of student engagement in peer feedback on writing performance in higher education

ABSTRACT

Writing has been recognized as a core competency for postgraduate students. However, improving writing performance, particularly for first-year postgraduate students, remains an important and challenging task. This study aimed to explore the effects of student engagement in peer feedback on writing performance from cognitive, affective and behavioral perspectives. Specifically, the participants were 88 postgraduate students. With the support of an online writing and peer review system (Peerceptiv), participants were asked to write an essay, engage in the peer feedback process, and revise their essays. Correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were utilized to analyze data on the quality of participants’ essays, peer feedback procedures, and interviews. Results showed that cognitive engagement, affective engagement, and behavioral engagement were significantly associated with postgraduate students’ writing performance. The analysis indicated that the helpfulness of provided comments was the strongest predictor of writing performance, followed by suggestion, integration, and positive affective engagement. These findings highlight the significance of student engagement in peer feedback to improve writing performance in higher education. Recommendations for future research on quality improvement in writing performance are suggested based on the findings.

KEYWORDS:

• Peer feedback
• writing performance
• student engagement
• cognitive engagement
• affective engagement
• behavioral engagement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China: [Grant Number Grant 62077012].

Notes on contributors

Xinquan Jin

Ms. Xinquan Jin is a doctoral student at College of Information Science and Technology, Northeast Normal University. Her research interests include educational measurement and evaluation.

Qiang Jiang

Dr. Qiang Jiang is a professor at College of Information Science and Technology, Northeast Normal University. His research interests include theory and practice of higher education, adaptive Learning

Weiyan Xiong

Dr. Weiyan Xiong is a research assistant professor at Institute of Policy Studies, School of Graduate Studies, Lingnan University. His research interests include liberal arts education, higher education management, and faculty professional development.

Yanan Feng

Ms. Yanan Feng is a graduate student at College of Information Science and Technology, Northeast Normal University. Her research interests include peer assessment, language education.

Wei Zhao

Dr. Wei Zhao is a professor at College of Information Science and Technology, Northeast Normal University. Her research interests include learning analystic, big data in education.