Rectifying Errors: a Reconceptualization of the Role of Errors in Peer-Feedback Provision and Processing

Peer-feedback is the process in which students process each other’s comments on, for example, their argumentative text. This dissertation introduces a conceptual model that visualizes this process. This model is innovative in two ways. First, it shows how intrapersonal factors (i.e., factors describing one’s personal characteristics, such as (prior) knowledge, motivation, error tolerance, and feedback tolerance) and interpersonal factors (i.e., factors describing the relationship between persons) may affect this process simultaneously, whereas previous research primarily focused on one of both sets of factors. Second, the model has a central place for errors during peer-feedback processes, whereas the role of errors was formerly mainly left implicit. The conceptual model is tested among 10th and 11th grade students (age: 16-18) in two empirical studies. These studies (1) show that peer-feedback processing seems to be affected by interpersonal factors to a greater extent than peer-feedback provision, (2) suggest that errors indeed play a central role during peer-feedback exchange, and (3) confirm that 10th and 11th grade students do not provide feedback on higher order concerns, such as structure and argumentation, without an elaborate instruction. The results have implications for the way in which teachers can deal with errors and interpersonal relationships when applying peer-feedback in their lessons. In particular, it is important that teachers become aware of the central role that errors and interpersonal relationships play in peer-feedback processes. In this way, error tolerant classroom cultures can be developed, by creating an atmosphere in which error making is accepted and even encouraged.