Error-detection tasks and peer feedback for engaging physics students

Abstract

We show how Error-Detection Tasks (EDT) are an effective way for students to practice giving peer feedback. In EDT, students are presented with a solved physics problem, prepared by a fictional in-class peer, containing one or more errors - algebraic, procedural, or conceptual. Students must identify and explain how to correct the error(s), as though they were explaining it to the “peer” who wrote the solution. EDTs have been developed for a web-based learning platform (myDALITE.org) that provides students with asynchronous peer instruction such that students can provide feedback and evaluate feedback from other students. Results show that students trained with EDT significantly outperform a control group in correctly identifying errors and providing more meaningful feedback to their fictional in-class peer.