Examples of Unhelpful Peer Review Feedback

📚 Quick Study Guide: Identifying Unhelpful Peer Review Feedback

• 🗣️ Vague or General Comments: Feedback like "This is good" or "I don't like this" without specific reasons.
• 🚫 Lack of Specificity: Not pointing to exact sentences, paragraphs, or issues that need improvement.
• 📉 Overly Critical or Demeaning Tone: Feedback that attacks the writer rather than the writing, making it difficult to receive constructively.
• 🤷‍♀️ Conflicting Advice: Suggestions that contradict each other or the assignment's guidelines, causing confusion.
• 🚧 Focusing Only on Minor Errors: Exclusively pointing out typos or grammatical mistakes while ignoring larger structural or content issues.
• ✍️ Rewriting the Piece: Instead of suggesting improvements, the reviewer rewrites portions of the text, removing the original writer's voice.
• ❓ Asking Questions Without Suggestions: "What do you mean here?" without offering potential clarifications or alternative phrasings.
• 🎯 Ignoring the Prompt/Rubric: Feedback that doesn't consider the assignment's specific requirements or grading criteria.
• ⏰ Late or Incomplete Feedback: Not providing feedback by the deadline or only reviewing a small portion of the work.

📝 Practice Quiz: Unhelpful Peer Review Feedback

1. Which of the following is an example of vague and unhelpful feedback?
   A) "Your introduction effectively grabs the reader's attention and sets the stage for your argument."
   B) "This paragraph on page 3 lacks clear topic sentences; consider starting each with a main idea."
   C) "It's good."
   D) "The evidence in your second body paragraph needs stronger connections to your thesis statement."
2. A reviewer writes, "This whole essay is just bad. You need to fix it." What type of unhelpful feedback is this?
   A) Focusing only on minor errors
   B) Providing conflicting advice
   C) Overly critical and demeaning tone
   D) Ignoring the prompt
3. Which option best describes feedback that rewrites a significant portion of the original text?
   A) Providing specific suggestions for improvement.
   B) Offering constructive criticism on organization.
   C) Helping the writer find their own voice.
   D) Taking over the writer's work instead of guiding them.
4. "I don't understand your point about deforestation on page 5. What are you trying to say?" This feedback is unhelpful primarily because it:
   A) Is too specific.
   B) Offers a solution without identifying a problem.
   C) Asks a question without suggesting potential clarifications or improvements.
   D) Focuses on grammar rather than content.
5. Feedback that primarily points out typos and comma splices while overlooking major issues with argument development or structure is an example of:
   A) Helpful proofreading.
   B) Focusing only on minor errors.
   C) Providing detailed content feedback.
   D) Offering comprehensive revision strategies.
6. A student receives feedback stating, "Your conclusion should summarize your main points," and then later, "Your conclusion should introduce new insights." This is an example of:
   A) Vague feedback.
   B) Overly critical feedback.
   C) Conflicting advice.
   D) Lack of specificity.
7. Which scenario represents feedback that ignores the assignment's prompt?
   A) The reviewer suggests adding more personal anecdotes when the prompt required academic research.
   B) The reviewer highlights a lack of evidence in a paragraph.
   C) The reviewer points out grammatical errors throughout the essay.
   D) The reviewer praises the strong thesis statement.