How to view and complete a Peer Review assignment (Students)

Your instructor may assign you to peer review on a particular assignment or assignments throughout the course.

This article provides an overview of peer review assignments, how to locate them in Canvas, and the directions to complete any assigned reviews.

Article Contents

General Information

How to View Assigned Peer Reviews

How to Use the Peer Review Page

How to Use the Rubric

How to Write and Save a Comment

General Information About Peer Review Assignments

• A Peer Review assignment requires you to read another student's (or students') submission and either complete a rubric or leave a comment about it.
• Peer review assignments in Canvas are ungraded by default, but your instructor may still assign graded peer reviews and give them credit through a different means in the course gradebook.
  • Check your syllabus for the grading requirements for peer reviews, and if you have questions, reach out to your instructor.
• Peer reviews can only be completed in the web version of Canvas. To date, there is no smartphone support for peer reviews.
• Peer reviews appear to be due on the same date of the parent assignment, but there is no official due date.
  • Check your syllabus and assignment directions or contact your instructor about their Peer Review due date policy.

How to View Assigned Peer Reviews

00:00:Learn how to conveniently track and manage peer review assignments on Instructure with these straightforward instructions. You'll effortlessly navigate through the platform to stay on top of any pending tasks. 00:12:Once a peer review is assigned to you, a notification displays in several dashboard areas. 00:18:On your Dashboard, you can view recent activity in your Global Activity stream. Recent activity will display a peer review and the name of the course. 00:28:Click the Show More link to access the assignment and view the name of the peer review student. If a peer review is anonymous, the name will show as Anonymous User. 00:38:On both the Dashboard and the Course Home Page sidebar, the To Do list shows the peer review assignment. Peer reviews are identified with the Peer Review icon. To view the assignment for review, click the Peer Review for [Assignment Name] link. 00:53:You can also view peer reviews when viewing assignments. In Course Navigation, click the Assignments link. 01:00:In the Assignment Index page, you can view any peer reviews assigned to you. To open the peer review, click the Required Peer Review link. 01:09:You can see the name of the student whose assignment you are reviewing. If your peer review is anonymous, the student's name displays as Anonymous Student. 01:18:In the sidebar under Assigned Peer Reviews, you will see any peer reviews assigned to you. 01:24:The caution sign icon indicates the peer review has not been completed. 01:29:A check mark icon indicates that you have completed the peer review. If your peer review is anonymous, you cannot see the name of the student. The peer review will be shown as Anonymous User. 01:41:This guide showed how to know if you have a peer review assignment to complete.

NOTE: By default, all peer reviews are assigned on the Due Date of the particular assignment. Peer review assignments will not appear until after the due date/time.

Based on how your course is configured, there are different ways to access your assigned peer reviews.

View Peer Reviews from Your Course's "To Do" List

Once peer review is opened to you, you can view any peer reviews you have been assigned in the To Do area (right side of the page) of your course's Home page. 

Look for an item with this peer review icon:

View Peer Reviews from an Assignment

The easiest way to view your assigned peer review(s) is through the assignment it is associated with.

Look on the right side of the page to see your assigned peer reviews for the assignment.

1. Click on the name of the classmate whose submission you have been assigned to in order to view the Review page and then edit and submit the peer review.

Read more from the Canvas LMS Instructure Community: How do I know if I have a peer review assignment to complete?

How to Use the Peer Review Page

Based on the assignment's configuration, you will either submit a comment or fill out a rubric to complete your peer review task. 

Below is an example of the Peer Review page and the important areas.

1. Click Show Rubric to view and edit the rubric.

2. Type a comment based on your evaluation of the student's submission.

3. Click Save when you have finished the review task.

How to Use the Rubric

After you click Show Rubric, the rubric pops out in a smaller pane. This pane is not particularly user-friendly at this point in time.

Note: You will need to scroll side-to-side to see all aspects of a rubric criterion, including the ratings, points, and comments. Scroll down to see all criteria and the Save Comment button, which saves all your scoring and comments in the rubric.

1. Click on the appropriate score column for a given criterion. You may also enter a specific score in the Pts box (right side).

2. You can leave a criterion-specific comment, if you desire.

Note: A comment left on a single criterion does not count as your main peer review comment.

3. After scoring, scroll to the bottom of the review pane and click Save Comment.

How to Write and Save a Comment

You can enter your comment directly on the Peer Review page.

1. Type your comment in the box.

2. Click Save when you are finished.

Note: You will also click Save after you have filled out the rubric.

Read more from the Canvas LMS Instructure Community: How do I submit a peer review to an assignment?