Effects of Scaffolded Peer Assessment on Students’ Holistic Critical Thinking in Academic Writing

Peer assessment is a common strategy in English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL or EFL) writing classrooms. Researchers and practitioners generally consider peer feedback useful for the improvement of students’ writing performance. However, little research has been conducted to investigate the effects of peer assessment on students’ academic writing, so in this study, we examined the effects of technology enhanced peer assessment on students’ academic writing performance. As critical thinking is essential for academic writing, we also investigated the effects of peer assessment on EFL students’ critical thinking. A total of 60 EFL students participated in the research. They learned and practiced academic writing using Google Doc. and conducted peer assessment and provided feedback using Flipgrid. Their writing performance was graded, and the Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric was used to evaluate their critical thinking as demonstrated in the writing products. The results indicated that although statistically significant differences existed between the two groups of students’ written products, they achieved similar levels of holistic critical thinking. This suggests that with appropriate scaffolding, students could be guided to assess their writing critically.