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Overview

Peer review is a collaborative learning process designed to facilitate student engagement and improve the quality of student work through structured feedback. By involving students in the review process, peer review promotes critical thinking, communication skills, and a deeper understanding of course material. Through a multi-step approach, students provide constructive feedback on each other's work and engage in critical reflection on how they might improve their own work.

New for 2025/26: Following an evaluation process, UCD has selected FeedbackFruits as our peer review solution, replacing PeerScholar. FeedbackFruits is fully integrated with Brightspace and offers both Peer Review and Group Member Evaluation tools to support diverse assessment activities.

Key Features

Key Features

FeedbackFruits offers two powerful assessment tools with comprehensive features:

Core Platform Features:

  • Full Brightspace integration: Create, manage, and grade activities directly within your modules, with automatic syncing to the gradebook
  • Multi-format submissions: Accepts a variety of file types including documents, audio, video, and images
  • Flexible scheduling and automation: Set deadlines, automate reminders, and manage late submissions with ease
  • Anonymity controls: Enable anonymous reviewing using pseudonyms to support honest, constructive feedback
  • Customisable feedback criteria: Use rubrics, scaled ratings, and open-text prompts to structure peer input
  • Grading configuration: Assign weightings to each phase of the activity (submission, review, reflection, etc.)
  • Self-assessment options: Allow students to evaluate their own work using the same criteria
  • Accessibility: Fully browser-based and mobile-friendly, with no additional logins or downloads required

Peer Review Tool - For individual or group peer assessment. Includes optional feedback-on-feedback phases and AI-powered feedback coaching to help students write meaningful reviews.

Group Member Evaluation Tool - Assesses individual contributions within group projects. Identifies contribution outliers, supports weighted grading, and promotes accountability in collaborative work.

When to use FeedbackFruits

Peer Review Tool

  • Assignments: Implement peer review or self-assessment to provide early feedback and opportunities for improvement
  • Presentations: Engage students in providing constructive feedback to refine communication skills
  • Case Studies: Have students assess peers' work on related cases to encourage critical thinking
  • Iterative Assignments: Incorporate peer review into drafting processes for continuous improvement

 

Group Member Evaluation Tool

  • Group Projects: Support fair assessment of individual contributions within group work
  • Assessing Contributions: Enable transparent rating and commenting on peers' contributions
  • Grade Adjustments: Use peer input to flag over- or under-contributors and adjust grades fairly

What our Faculty say

Group Member Evaluation

"As Module Coordinator of a large cohort of students, I found the tool to be an effective solution for facilitating group-based learning. Its structured design promotes individual accountability and strengthens collaboration whilst supporting the development of key professional skills such as self-awareness, communication, and the ability to give and receive feedback constructively." Geraldine Redmond CHAS

Group Member Evaluation
Peer Review Tool

"FeedbackFruits has made group work more enjoyable and productive for students and teachers. The tool allows students to review and score each other's work, giving them a better insight into what works well and what doesn't, as well as fostering engagement and collaboration with peers in the classroom. FeedbackFruits supports the peer review process with clear, easy to use rubrics that teachers can edit or create from scratch." Dr. Mary Farrelly CAH

Peer Review Tool

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UCD IT Services

Computer Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Contact us via the UCD IT Support Hub: www.ucd.ie/ithelp