The Role of Peer and Tutor Feedback [Draft 3]

Looking back at the time spent in ES1102, I feel that I have gained lots of benefits from this module. In my opinion, one of the most useful aspects of the course is the peer and tutor feedback portion. I had done several feedback sessions with my peers on our writing assignments throughout the course of ES1102. These feedback sessions had greatly widened my perspectives on ways to refine one’s writing. Therefore, they were very beneficial in improving my academic writing.

When I first heard that we would be doing feedback sessions on each other work, I was immediately worried about whether I could do a proper job during such sessions. I thought that my English standard was not good enough to enable me to provide constructive feedback to my peers. I was also worried that I might offend my peers when commenting on their work. Fortunately, our tutor would always guide us along before we worked on any of the feedback sessions. We also worked in teams, which I thought was useful as we had more views on how we could further improve our peers’ essays. My worries also lessened as I could consult with my team mates, or our tutor if need be, on whether certain feedbacks were appropriate in helping to refine the essay.

On the other hand, I welcomed the part where I could receive feedback from my peers. I knew it could greatly benefit my writing as I was able to receive valuable feedback on how to improve my essays. Their feedbacks also allowed me to identify the mistakes I did not even know I committed. Having extra pairs of eyes looking at one’s work is always better after all. Nevertheless, sometimes I did felt a bit defensive about my work but I knew that I had to remain open-minded so that my writing could be improved.

The extensive feedback sessions provided by my tutor at the end of each writing session were also very beneficial in aiding the process of improving my essays. Though, it could be scary at times looking at the comments flooding my essays. However, those comments were really helpful in refining my writing.

Overall, after going through multiple feedback sessions, I have discovered more aspects in an essay we can tackle so as to further refine it. I am also more conscious of common mistakes people make so I will take care in not committing them. The process of receiving and giving feedback is also valuable as it enables me to broaden my views on certain topics.

Till now, I have not done any peer review sessions in my other assignments, except for one or two which required group work. However, in those group projects, I found that peer editing was really useful in helping us improve our assignments. After several rounds of feedback session, we managed to make our essay flow much better than before. Therefore, this proved that peer reviews were not a waste of time as it helped us in producing better quality work.

After learning the usefulness of such feedback sessions, I think that it will be good if I am able to apply these skills in the upcoming semesters so that I am able to produce better quality papers during my university student career.

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