Instructor Spotlight Series
See how instructors in business, psychology, engineering, public health, and biology use Peerceptiv peer review to build real-world skills and deepen learning.
Each spotlight shows how an instructor or program uses structured peer review, Live Presentations, or Team Member Evaluations in a real course and what changed for their students. Peerceptiv is used in hundreds of disciplines, and these spotlights feature some of the most popular.
Business
Human resources, marketing, business ethics, international business, and MBA programs.
Driving Success in Business Courses: Enhancing Team Collaboration
Dr. Stephen TrainorUniversity of Arkansas, Sam M. Walton College of Business
Dr. Trainor uses structured peer review in his Human Resources course to strengthen communication and collaboration. Students engage more deeply with course material and practice giving and receiving feedback, a core skill for effective teamwork and professional growth in HR.
Inspiring Career Readiness with Live Presentations
Dr. Courtney PetersSamford University, Brock School of Business
In her marketing courses, Dr. Peters uses Live Presentations to build public speaking and presentation skills. Peer review helps students gain confidence and see professional qualities in action.
Fostering Meaningful Discussion and Improving Grades
Professor Ingrid GreeneLoyola Marymount University, College of Business Administration
After the pandemic, Professor Greene turned to Peerceptiv to reinvigorate student discussion and improve writing in her business ethics and international business courses. Peer assessment has helped her understand her students better and refine her course structure.
“They take comfort in knowing they’re going to get feedback from not just me, but from their peers, as well. They use it as a process to improve.”
Building Purpose-Ready Business Skills Through Peer Learning
Gies College of BusinessUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Gies uses Peerceptiv team evaluations in more than 50 MBA, iMBA, and undergraduate courses. In Professor Sandra Corredor’s capstone, student groups create video pitches, peers assess each group’s pitch, and students complete a team evaluation for their group members.
“Peer reviewing in Peerceptiv creates an opportunity for my students to practice giving and receiving feedback—a critical skill they need to develop for their careers.”
Psychology
Cognitive psychology and cognitive science.
Peer Learning for Research-Based, Equitable Assessment in Introductory Psychology
Dr. Christian SchunnUniversity of Pittsburgh, Psychology
With more than 250 students in his Cognitive Psychology course, Dr. Schunn replaced multiple-choice assessment with peer-reviewed group projects. Group Formation sorts students into teams by the project topics they choose, students review each other’s work and complete Team Member Evaluations, and Benchmark Grading keeps grades aligned with the rubric. In the new format, the grade gap between Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students and their classmates closed.
“Peer assessment is just a no-brainer. Involving the students directly in making sense of the performance standards… is such a great way for them to learn.”
Leveraging Online Peer Learning to Promote Human Skills in the Age of AI
Dr. Nicholas DuranArizona State University, Psychology
Dr. Duran uses peer assessment to motivate his cognitive science students to engage more deeply with writing. Combined with tighter citation guidelines and complex prompts, peer review makes him more confident students aren’t outsourcing their writing to AI. Students learn by reading peers’ work and by giving detailed feedback, skills they’ll need in graduate school and beyond.
“The assignment is not just what they’ve written on the page, but also how they’re doing the assessment… That helps alleviate some of the worries about these AI technologies.”
Engineering and Computer Science
Electrical and computer engineering, and computer science.
Bolster Engineering Students’ Communication with Peerceptiv
Adam BarnesUniversity of Virginia, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Adam Barnes uses Live Presentations and Team Member Evaluations to build communication and collaboration skills. Reading peers’ feedback shows students different approaches to solving problems, and Peerceptiv helps the program gather data to demonstrate that it meets accreditation standards.
“In reading what their peers write, they get a feel for what good communication is and what isn’t—what’s clear and what’s not.”
Peer Review Made Simple: A Professor’s Experience with Peerceptiv
Jon BaarschUniversity of Central Arkansas, Computer Science & Engineering
Jon Baarsch teaches writing and programming and uses Peerceptiv to have students review and assess each other’s work. Reviews are anonymous and rated for helpfulness and accuracy, and when he grades a handful of submissions, his scores become the baseline that gives the most accurate reviewers more weight.
“Rather than submitting themselves passively to the vagaries of my red pen, the students sharpen their own wits and learn to regulate themselves.”
Public Health and Biological Sciences
Public health genetics, human biology, introductory biology, and entomology.
Active Learning and Collaboration in Public Health Writing
Kimberly RehakUniversity of Pittsburgh, College of General Studies
Kimberly Rehak scaffolds one semester-long writing assignment with peer feedback and reflection. Her public health students build critical thinking, communication, and collaboration skills, and she spends less time on administrative tasks.
“[Peer review] is a great concept because you can’t be passive… It’s a nice active exercise in reviewing, holding yourself and your peers accountable, and taking criticism.”
Breaking the Boards: How Guided Peer-to-Peer Discussions Replace Traditional Discussion Boards
Dr. Jill ReidVirginia Commonwealth University, Biology
For 350 sophomore-level students in an online human biology course, Dr. Reid replaced traditional discussion boards with guided, anonymous peer-to-peer discussions. Students respond to three classmates’ posts using guided prompts, then give feedback on the responses they received.
“Not only has Peerceptiv allowed me to easily provide meaningful student-to-student engagement for my large-enrollment online courses, but it has also made the grading process a breeze.”
How Oregon State Is Building Writing and Collaboration Skills Among Biology Students
Andrew BouwmaOregon State University, Integrative Biology
In his online Introduction to Biology series of more than 300 students, Andrew Bouwma has students germinate lettuce seeds at home and write up the results as a formal research paper, peer-reviewed in two sections. Colleagues teaching upper-level courses have noticed the difference in students’ scientific writing.
“Peerceptiv isn’t just a tool to make grading easier. Instead, it’s allowed me to assign things I wouldn’t normally be able to assign.”
Peer Assessment in the Sciences
Dr. Craig J. CoatesTexas A&M University, Entomology
In Insects in Human Society, a course of up to 500 in-person and online students from more than 95 majors, Dr. Coates replaced multiple-choice exams with eight Peerceptiv writing and critical thinking assignments. Benchmark Grading showed significant class improvement from the first assignment to the last, and no student questioned the grades it produced.
Communication and Journalism
Journalism and mass communication.
Promote Student Engagement with Live Presentations
Charles MunroUniversity of Iowa, School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Charles Munro uses Live Presentations to keep students engaged during their peers’ presentations. Required peer evaluations build critical listening and active participation, and add accountability that makes a difference.
“I have found that when they read the anonymous reviews they actually use them. They actually give good comments that I would’ve made.”
More Disciplines
Peerceptiv is used across hundreds of disciplines, including astronomy for non-majors.
Demystifying the Cosmos for Non-Science Majors
Dr. Dave TobackTexas A&M University
Dr. Toback’s astronomy course for non-majors emphasizes mastery learning through peer feedback. Reviewing peers’ essays helps students internalize course standards and practice critical thinking, and 1 in 4 choose to resubmit assignments for a higher grade.
“Our students and universities deserve the very best there is to offer, and Peerceptiv provides it.”
Common questions
How do instructors use Peerceptiv in their courses?
Instructors use Peerceptiv for structured peer review of writing and projects, peer evaluation of in-class presentations through Live Presentations, Group Formation to build teams from student survey responses such as availability and topic preferences, and Team Member Evaluations after group work. Peerceptiv is used in hundreds of disciplines. The instructors in this series teach business, engineering, computer science, biology, entomology, astronomy, public health, psychology, and journalism at universities including the University of Virginia, Texas A&M, Arizona State, the University of Illinois, and the University of Pittsburgh.
How does peer review help prepare students for their careers?
Peer review gives students regular practice giving and receiving feedback, presenting, and collaborating, skills employers expect. Dr. Courtney Peters uses Live Presentations to build interview-ready confidence, Dr. Stephen Trainor uses peer review to build teamwork skills for HR careers, and Adam Barnes uses Team Member Evaluations to develop the communication engineering accreditors look for.
Can peer review help instructors respond to AI?
Yes. Dr. Nicholas Duran at Arizona State combines peer assessment with tighter citation guidelines and complex prompts, which makes him more confident his students are doing their own writing. Reviewing and responding to peers’ work also builds judgment and feedback skills that students can’t hand off to a chatbot.
Bring peer learning to your courses
Built on more than a decade of learning research, Peerceptiv helps instructors create meaningful, manageable assessments that deepen learning and save time grading.