The writing process consists of several parts and each of those parts are equally important. We often start with brainstorming and end with peer review. However, it is often difficult for students to see the benefits of peer review because they often feel overwhelmed and unwilling to give feedback to or receive feedback from their peers as they see it as less beneficial than receiving feedback directly from their teacher. In addition, most of the students are confused as to what peer review entails and how it should be used because they do not receive enough guidance and direction to make it a successful experience.

(Karina) Despite all of the above-mentioned concerns, research has shown the many benefits peer review can have on students:

• Students can get faster feedback from diverse sources (Cho and Schunn, 2007)
• Student learning improves when they have to give feedback (Lie et al., 2010, 2012; Topping et al., 2013)
• Facilitates active learning (Liu and Carless, 2006; Cartney, 2010; Nicol, 2011)
• Improves metacognition and increases independence (Nicol, Thomson, ad Breslin, 2014)
• Students become self-reflective (Baker, 2016; Cho and Cho, 2011; MacArthur, 2010)

Below you will find some suggestions that could help eliminate some of the above-mentioned concerns:

• Directly address your students' concerns at the beginning of the semester. 
• Provide clear examples and explanations of what they need to look for as they edit their peers' drafts. If they are editing topic sentences, provide a model topic sentence for them.
• Model it for your students and walk them through your thought process early on in the semester and then again with each assignment. 
• Use peer review rotations, meaning that 3-4 students review each other's assignments, but each student focuses on a different aspect. For example, one focuses on the topic sentence, another one gives feedback on the concluding sentence, etc. This helps eliminate feelings of overwhelm since one student is not responsible to give feedback on the entire paragraph or essay. 
• A variation of the above-mentioned point is limiting the scope of the student review. For example, you can have them only look at each other's topic sentences, thesis statements, transition words, etc. as opposed to the whole essay. That way you are emphasizing what they should also have in their own essays or paragraphs. This encourages reflection on their own work as well as on other's and it is not overwhelming.
• Provide checklists or rubrics for students to follow as they are peer reviewing and ask them to specifically identify the items on the rubric. This helps solidify their mental (or written) image of what something needs to look like. 
• Define and model what clear feedback should look like. For example, instruct your students to say "do you an example to support this idea?' rather than just saying, 'write more.' Encourage your students to provide actionable feedback (Make sure you model it first). 
• Instruct your students to provide praise and positive constructive feedback. (See the Providing Feedback section of this book for more details about this.)
• If students are not comfortable having other students look at their drafts, you can bring anonymous drafts to class and have them work on those.
• Encourage students to be open-minded about the feedback they receive while still keeping ownership of their drafts. Teach them how to be selective in how they handle the feedback they receive.