Peer Review as a Teaching Tool
Peer review is useful in high school science because it:

• Encourages students to think critically
• Motivates students by giving them assessment responsibilities
• Helps students to improve their reports and presentations
• Allows students to experience an important part of scientific practice

Reviewing each other's presentations and reports encourages students to think critically, questioning their own and each other's assumptions and interpretations and improving their writing. Students may be motivated to do a more thorough job when they know that their work will be critiqued by fellow students. In addition, engaging in a process of peer review allows classroom science to become decentralized and more analogous to true scientific processes; as students help each other, they may recognize that valid information can come from sources other than just the teacher or the textbook. And finally, peer review gives students the opportunity to experience first-hand one of the ways in which scientists work together rather than in isolation, creating a professional community.

Peer Review Guidelines for Teachers

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