The 360° Review Process:
The goal of soliciting both student and peer reviews for project work is to provide reflective feedback for each team and also for individual team members. Ideally this process is designed to parallel the 360° review process employed at many hospitals and workplaces.
The general idea is that students get an overall reaction to your team’s presentation from the audience versus the standard single grade from your professor. Additionally, your team members also have a chance to provide their input on your overall performance throughout the trimester. From an assessment perspective, it is my hope that this combined grade gives a better overall picture of your project performance rather than the academic standard of grading the presentation only. The traditional approach lacks individual granularity in acknowledging accomplishments of particular team members. It also doesn’t have a mechanism for showing your team how your presentation was perceived by the audience. This is why I have chosen 360° reviews for project assessments this trimester.
Requirements:
in order to complete the required reviews for your participation grade there are two kinds of reviews you need to complete:
- Group presentation reviews: this form allows you to evaluate the presentations of other groups excluding your own. The deadline for submitting this form is 11:59 PM Monday after the group presents. For example, if Group #4 presents on Monday week 8, then the deadline for submitting your Group #4 presentation review would be 11:59 PM Monday, Week 8.
- Peer reviews: this form allows you to review your own teammates. You must submit a peer review for every member of your team excluding yourself. The deadline for submitting this form is 11:59 PM Wednesday after your group presents. For example, if Group #4 presents on Monday week 8, then the deadline for submitting your Group #4 peer reviews would be 11:59 PM Wednesday, Week 8.
Late group or peer reviews will negatively affect your participation grade. Please submit your reviews in a timely manner.
Guidelines:
In order for everyone to benefit from the 360° review process, the comments and reviews submitted must be professional, clear and compassionate. This means that you should weigh your words carefully when commenting on presentations made by other groups and the performance of your own team members.
It is also important that you communicate honestly without using language that would be considered either offensive or streets slang. For example it is okay to say: “John did not contribute to group meetings.” But it is not okay to say: “John left us hanging out to dry.” The first example contains a legitimate piece of feedback regarding John’s contribution to group meetings while the second reply leaves questions about the ways in which John may not have participated.
Remember that as you evaluate your own team members, they will also be evaluating you. The great law of karma is always in operation. This is not meant to encourage everyone to rate everyone else positively regardless of performance, but rather to encourage fellow students to give helpful and kind feedback to team members anonymously that may help them perform better on future projects. All of your responses for both group presentation reviews and peer reviews will remain confidential. Your classmates will not be able to see your group presentation reviews or peer-reviews. However, groups will receive summaries of feedback regarding their presentations with anonymous comments along with a performance average. Team members will receive anonymous feedback as well with a performance average.
Substantive feedback:
The purpose of this section is to define substantive feedback. When you are asked to provide substantive feedback to other groups, or your team members, please remember that the main idea is to help the group or person improve their skill set for future similar situations. That means that you should identify specific skills, ideas, or content that you found either helpful or distracting during the presentation. You may also identify strategies that would have improved the overall presentation of ideas or the ability to work together as teammates. Your feedback should not contain negative or pejorative language that denigrates any member of our class. If you have questions about the kind of feedback that is acceptable, please bring those to class and I will be happy to answer them before the reviews begin.