Trained Peer Written Feedback and Teacher Written Feedback: Similar or Different?

The purpose of this classroom-based study is to understand the differences and similarities between trained peer written feedback and the teacher-researcher’s written feedback over time and identify key instructional features contributing to them. Using repeated-measures, the teacher-researcher analyzed comment area, function, feature, and type of revision-oriented comments produced by 17 trained freshmen English majors and the teacher-researcher on three writing assignments over a semester. The findings show that despite significant differences in amount and area of comments, trained peer written feedback and the teacher-researcher’s written feedback gradually resembled each other in function, feature, and type of revision-oriented comments over time. Possible factors for the increasing similarity included peer review training, teacher-student conference, provision of guiding questions, observation of the teacher-researcher’s and peer written feedback, as well as a change of the teacher-researcher’s commenting strategy.