1. Peer review with Aropa in Computing Science
Dr Simon Rogers

2. The course: PSI Professional Skills and Issues: Assignment:
L4 and Msc students (>100)
Compulsory: Required for BCS accreditation
Non-technical: Ethics, IPR, Data protection etc
Not the most popular L4 course……
Assignment:
1,500 word essay.
2 stage peer review process.
Final mark (from academic) weighted by `engagement factor’

3. Aropä
Peer review management software developed by John Hamer (Auckland & SCS) and Helen Purchase (SCS).
Handles everything:
Submission (word/pdf, txt)
Assignment to reviews
Review rubric (design your own)
Returning reviews to reviewers
Reviewing of reviews
Very easy to use. Local support available.
Willing to expand system to meet new requirements.

4. Peer review process Trial exercise Assessed exercise 500 word essay
2 reviews
Not assessed (almost 100% response)
Assessed exercise
Students submit draft essay on one of 3 topics (0.7).
Assigned 3 reviewers from same topic.
Reviewers assess work (numerical ratings and text justification) (0.05 x 3).
Reviews returned to authors who can use them to improve essay.
Each student also reviews 3 other reviews (0.05 x 3).
Final marking done by academics, weighted by factors (X)

5. Pros & Cons
Pros:
Aropa very easy to use – assigning reviews, handling deadlines, monitoring submissions etc.
High level of engagement (almost all students completed everything).
Massive quantity of feedback (not always high quality)
Cons:
Between cohort tension (L4 v MsC).
`Threat’ of plagiarism (by reviewers).
Lack of peer review experience – poor quality of feedback (first use of peer review for 85% of class).
Anonymity (.doc files).

6. Other feedback
Only 20% of students would have been happy to be formally assessed by peers.
Of those who thought the exercise improved their essay (42%!), 71% felt that the most helpful bit was receiving feedback.