FeedbackFruits is the centrally supported peer review application for the U of A in Canvas. The Peer Review tool within FeedbackFruits allows instructors to set up structured activities in which students or groups can submit work and then provide high-quality, meaningful feedback to their classmates.

This article contains step-by-step instructions for creating a peer-review activity configured as an assignment in Canvas. The vendor has also provided a robust set of articles describing the use of Peer Review.

Adding a FeedbackFruits Peer Review

Note: When creating a FeedbackFruits assignment, do not use any assignment settings such as due dates, close dates, description, total points, etc. These settings are entered in the FeedbackFruits interface.

Peer Reviews are added to Canvas using External Tool as the assignment submission type. To create an assignment, instructors can add it either from the Assignments area: 

Or directly into whichever course module is selected:

When using the second method, once the tool is added, instructors will need to click the new assignment link to open it, then click the Edit button to configure the FeedbackFruits settings:

Within the assignment settings, instructors should not set anything (e.g., name, description, total points, etc.), as these settings are entered in the FeedbackFruits interface.

To connect the peer review to FeedbackFruits, under the Submission type, instructors need to select External tool, then click the Find button:

Then, from the list of site-wide external tools, click on FeedbackFruits:

This will open the FeedbackFruits dashboard, and instructors can proceed to the next step.

You may also create FeedbackFruits Peer Review activities that do not link to the Canvas gradebook by adding External tools into modules and selecting the FeedbackFruits tool in the tool dropdown (as in the screenshot above).

Creating FeedbackFruits Peer Reviews

The FeedbackFruits dashboard contains links to all of an instructor's previous assignments and the option to create a new assignment from scratch:

If this is your first time creating a peer review, click on Start from scratch and then select the Peer Review activity:

Note: the Peer Review activity is the only FeedbackFruits activity type licensed for use at the U of A.

On the screen that follows, an example assignment flow is shown; click the button to Copy and edit at the bottom right to begin:

At the top right of the setup window, there will be a Save or Edit button. You can return to the setup later, before students are expected to submit, to complete setting up the peer review.

Next, give the assignment a name, then begin configuring the peer-review workflow submission settings.

At every step, there will be a Save or Edit button at the top right of the setup window. You can return to the setup later, before students are expected to submit, to complete the peer review setup.

Instructions for students

After naming your Peer Review assignment, you must give students instructions on what is expected from them (and how they will be evaluated and graded):

You can set instructions for TAs (and other instructors) that will be visible only to them.

You may edit and add additional instructions later.

How students will collaborate

The default for student collaboration is individual student submissions for peers to review:

• To set up other submission types, such as group submissions, click the Change button.
  
• If you have set up your assignment as a group assignment, you may additionally set individual or group submissions.
• For an individual assignment to be reviewed by a group, you may choose to have the reviewers chosen from within or outside the group.
• For a group submission, students may be assigned to review any individual, or assigned as a group to review another group, or assigned individually for each member to review the same other group

You can also select groups as groups or as course sections. Click Next to select Canvas groups or sections.

The number of assignment files students submit

Whether individually or in groups, you can set the number of files to be submitted for peer review as an exact number, as a minimum number, or a number between 1 and 9:

.

Additional submission settings

You can also configure:

• Scheduling deadlines: The date by which the assignments must be submitted; dates to complete reviews are set separately.
• File requirements: The allowed file types (documents, videos, websites, images, audios, and other are all allowed by default)
• Anonymity: Whether student or group assignments are anonymous
• Visibility: Whether all students or only students who submitted can view submissions (instructors can always see all submissions)
• Guiding students: Optional additional instructions for submitting.

Review evaluation criteria and number of reviews

In the Given Reviews section, you configure how many reviews each student or group must complete and whether students or groups can self-assess:

This section is also where you will set the criteria for evaluating the submitted reviews. To choose criteria, click Configure.

You can allow comments only, configure a rubric within the Peer Review, or upload a rubric you have saved in Canvas. Delete any unused criteria by clicking the three dots by each and selecting Delete.

Note: Once deleted, criteria cannot be restored.

As FeedbackFruits cannot import a rubric from Canvas, you will first download a rubric as a CSV file and submit it in the Feedback criteria area. To download a rubric from canvas, go to the Rubrics section of your course, click to put a checkmark before the rubric, and click Download Selected Rubrics:

Scheduling reviews

You can set the date and time when students must submit feedback reviews. This setting is separate from scheduling assignment submissions. 

Review allocations: how students will receive reviews

In this setting, you decide how reviews will be allocated to each student's assignment.

There are four ways to allocate when students can view reviews of their assignments:

Automatically - One by one: This is the recommended setting. When students receive multiple reviews, they see the next one after each is read.
Automatically - All at once: All reviews are revealed at once.
Manually: You can assign all the allocations manually.
Students choose who to review: Upon starting the assignment, students select the peer or group they want to review.

Note: Manually assigning reviewers is not practical in large classes.

Additional review settings

Anonymity: Toggle this setting to make reviews anonymous (instructors can still see each reviewer's identity).
Visibility: Use this setting to decide whether to release feedback manually, immediately, or at a specific date.
Guiding students: Add additional tips for students writing reviews as a text checklist or list of tips. A beta version of the AI coach is available.

Grading assignments and feedback

The following items can be graded for the assignment and feedback reviews:

• Submissions: an aggregate grade of all assignment submissions.
• Given Reviews:
  • the grade for feedback given;
  • the average of ratings received;
  • quality of contributions;
  • collaboration and teamwork;
  • how responsibly and reliably reviews were given.

Linking the Peer Review to the assignment

Once the settings are finalized, click Save at the top right to close the FeedbackFruits modal overlay, then click  Select  to confirm the external tool linkage, followed by Save or Save & Publish at the bottom of the canvas assignment settings page:

From this point, it will not be possible to access the Canvas assignment settings, but all the details can still be adjusted within the FeedbackFruits Peer Review interface:

At this stage, the assignment is ready to be released to students. 

Additional help

The vendor has provided a detailed guide: Peer Review: For Teachers, which covers all of the available settings and options in detail. These materials include how the activity will appear to students, how the different phases of the assignment look from the Teacher perspective, and more.

At any time, if you have questions during the configuration or during the assignment delivery, you can access immediate help using the tool by opening the vendor chat from the bottom right:

Delivering Peer Review Activities

The Peer Review: For Teachers vendor guide contains full instructions and screenshots of the assignment process at the various phases of submission, review, and grading.