Research Project Peer Critique

Research Project Peer Critique

Ellen Kim

Hospitality Management

Hospitality Management Research Seminar

Activity Description: Provide a brief description of the activity

This activity is designed to provide students with an opportunity to conduct self-assessment on their research project and to receive feedback from their peers as well as the instructor. Students will perform self-assessment on their assignments, (1) Problem Statement & Thesis Statement and (2) Draft, using the rubrics provided by the instructor upon completion of the assignments. The homework submitted via Blackboard will be, then, evaluated by classmates by one week after the deadline. In addition to the instructor’s assessment, evaluating students need to provide the complete rubrics along with suggestions for improvement. Reviewers and reviewees will be paired up during the class period to clarify the feedback and to discuss further about the arguments established.

Learning Goals: What do you aim to achieve with this activity?

• Identify and evaluate the clarity of the research problem statement.
• Determine the theoretical or logical rationale of the research problem.
• Appraise the thoroughness and relevance of the literature review.
• Assess the credibility of the research (application of APA citation).
• Assess the theoretical perspectives and/or appropriate assumptions of the researchers.
• Assess the clarity and consistency of the results.
• Strengthen writing skills.

Timing: At what point in the lesson or semester do you use this activity? How much classroom time do you devote to it? How much out-of-class time is expected?

This exercise consists of two phases:
1) Phase 1 (Problem Statement & Thesis Statement): Students will be asked to submit the formulated problem statement and thesis statement in Week 4. Peer evaluation will be completed by Week 5 and class discussion will follow for about 15 minutes in Week 5.
2) Phase 2 (Draft): The research draft following APA citation is due Week 10 and peer assessment is due Week 11. Peer discussion will be done in Week 11.

Logistics: What preparation is needed for this activity? What instructions do you give students? Is the activity low-stakes, high-stakes, or something else?

This exercise needs clearly defined grading rubrics and an instruction on how to grade students’ work with the rubrics should be provided to students during the class period.

Assessment: How do you assess this activity? What assessment measures do you use? Do you use a VALUE rubric? If not, how did you develop your rubric? Is your course part of the college-wide general education assessment initiative?

Existing grading rubrics will be refined for this exercise. Students will use the updated rubrics for self-assessment and peer-review.

Reflection: How well did this activity work in your classroom? Would you repeat it? Why or why not? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you address them? What, if anything, would you change? What did students seem to enjoy about the activity?

I ran a pilot test of this activity in Spring 2016. I found that students could gain various perspectives on tourism issues for investigation in a dynamic environment.

Additional Information: Please share any additional comments and further documentation of the activity – e.g. assignment instructions, rubrics, examples of student work, etc. These can be links to pages or posts on the OpenLab.

Please share a helpful link to a pages or post on the OpenLab