Do you want to promote equity in group work and improve students' collaboration skills?
FeedbackFruits offers a tool for students to evaluate their peers and receive timely, constructive peer feedback in one place!
- Available for credit courses; integrates with Canvas.
- Group member evaluations and optional self-assessments are based on instructor-selected criteria.
(e.g. time management, teamwork, and communication). - Student feedback is optionally anonymous.
- Promotes an open, accountable, and productive group work environment.
- Provides real-time progress updates for instructors.
Group Member Evaluation Tool Example:
Instructor Use Cases
Course Overview: Technical Project Management (TPM/EPD612) is a 3-credit graduate engineering course that addresses principles, strategies, and tools of project management that apply to a broad range of engineering projects. Of special relevance are the semester-long team projects that provide a rich opportunity for collaborative learning, developing team skills, and the application of project management. Please see the objectives and attached pdf file below for more details on the use case.
Objectives:
- Support student’s desire to enhance their ability to work in teams and build effective teams.
- Provide an easy-to-use integrated process for students to perform constructive formative mid-semester assessments of themself and their team members.
- Facilitate students receiving consolidated feedback from their team members, posting their reflections, and facilitating the development of follow-up action plans.
- Leverage CoE best practices and technical support resources in the setup and ongoing use of FbF.
- Take advantage of FbF’s built-in integration with Canvas assignments and the Canvas Gradebook.
6-Step Process for using FeedbackFruits in your Course
1. Setup & Integration
Instructors in the College of Engineering can add FeedbackFruits Group Member Evaluation activities to your Canvas course, providing easy access to the tool and evaluations, and creating a seamless experience for you and your students.
4. Students Evaluate
Once groups are set and the activity is underway, students can then assess their peers. Encourage them to provide constructive feedback, focusing not just on what went well or what didn't, but also on actionable steps for improvement.
2. Create Evaluation Activity
Draft a clear peer evaluation activity. FeedbackFruits offers both custom and pre-made criteria, so choose what aligns best with your course objectives. The clearer and more specific your criteria, the more consistent and valuable the feedback will be.
5. Review Results
As evaluations roll in, take the time to analyze the feedback. FeedbackFruits provides tools that help in identifying patterns, outliers, or particular areas of concern or excellence. This can inform not just individual student grading, but also course and activity adjustments in the future.
3. Assign Groups
Depending on the activity, create student groups based on specific criteria like skillsets or backgrounds. The groups are created in Canvas and then are added to FeedbackFruits through the built-in tool. Consider groups carefully as they are not easily reconfigured after the activity begins.
6. Provide Feedback
After reviewing, it's important to circle back with students. Whether offering individualized responses or general feedback to the class during a synchronous session, it's an opportunity to guide them, validate their experiences, and provide actionable next steps for future group projects.
FeedbackFruits Group Member Evaluation Tutorials for Instructors
Part 1: How to add a FeedbackFruits Group Member Evaluation Assignment in Canvas
This video demonstrates how to add a FeedbackFruits Group Member Evaluation activity as an assignment in Canvas. Adding the activity as an assignment enables the Canvas gradebook integration.
Access video chapters using the menu in the upper left corner of the video.
Part 2: How to set up a FeedbackFruits Group Member Evaluation Assignment in Canvas
This video shows how to configure the FeedbackFruits assignment settings including establishing feedback criteria, rating scales, scheduling deadlines for giving and reading received feedback, anonymity, and more.
Access video chapters using the menu in the upper left corner of the video.
Part 3: How to Configure the Grading Section of a FeedbackFruits Group Member Evaluation Assignment
This video demonstrates how to configure grading settings for the FeedbackFruits assignment and grade publishing options.
Access video chapters using the menu in the upper left corner of the video.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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Will Group Member Evaluation (GME) activity scores be recorded in the Canvas gradebook?
Yes. For FeedbackFruits to communicate scores to the Canvas gradebook, it is very important to set up the GME activity as an assignment. Students will submit their ratings and responses to the GME activity through the FeedbackFruits external tool submission.
If I ask students to complete a Group Member Evaluation activity in two parts with two different due dates (provide reviews by this date and read reviews by that date), will Canvas correctly allocate points (weigh) the 2-part assignment?
Yes. When the grades are published, the XX% and YY% will be allocated properly to the gradebook column for that Canvas assignment. It shows up for the students as a rubric that clearly shows where each part of the grade comes from.
Is student feedback anonymous?
You have the choice to allow students to submit their feedback anonymously. This provides a safe learning environment and encourages honest feedback. Instructors can always see reviewers’ names. The anonymity setting cannot be changed after students have begun the activity.
Can I create the groups directly in the FeedbackFruits assignments?
You need to create the student groups within the People tab in the Canvas. Once created, you can then navigate to the FeedbackFruits assignment, select Edit, then add groups. FeedbackFruits and Canvas will be able to communicate to add the groups to the assignment.
I created a FeedbackFruits activity worth 50 points. I would like it to count as 10 points in my Canvas course. Will the assignment grade automatically scale down to the points I have assigned in Canvas?
Yes. FeedbackFruits uses their own point system and communicates with Canvas to scale to the number of points the activity has been assigned in Canvas.
Grades were automatically published to the grade book, but some students reported that their grades for the assignment are not showing. How do I fix this?
If you set up your FeedbackFruits assignment to have grades automatically published to the grade center after a due date, some students may report that they do not see their grades. This is usually because students completed the assignment after the due date, so their grade was not automatically published. If you would still like to give the students who did not complete the assignment in time the opportunity to get their points, you can go back to the FeedbackFruits assignment and manually publish grades even after the due date has passed.