Incorporating Student Peer Review in Online, Blended, and Face-to-Face Classes
Peer review is a structured process by which students evaluate the work of their peers. Having students engage in peer review isn’t just an assessment strategy—it’s a powerful practice that is known to promote student success.
Peer Review Workshop
This workshop will explore practical strategies for designing, facilitating, and assessing meaningful student peer review in a Canvas course. We will look at how peer review supports deeper learning, engagement, and feedback literacy.
We will also go over how to set up peer review using Canvas Assignments and the Harmonize discussion tool.
Join us in UHB 2004 or on Zoom.
Whether in person or online, discussions are one of the most important and potentially memorable aspects of any course. Seeing students working together to build foundational knowledge and extend their learning–all while creating connections with each other–is rewarding and uplifting.
In this month’s COLRS Catch Up, meet our new eLearning Specialist, explore October’s focus on journaling, and catch up on key Canvas updates and upcoming events.
Journaling is a powerful way to help students connect course material to their personal experiences. Learn how journals can foster reflection, critical thinking, and meaningful instructor–student relationships.
Welcome to the second COLRS Catch Up! We'd like to start by introducing our COLRS GA, Lyba Mehdi.
The rapid emergence of generative AI tools has added new pressure to the challenges already facing higher education faculty. While these technologies can be used responsibly, many instructors are alarmed by the growing tendency of students to rely on AI as a shortcut. This practice not only raises serious questions about academic honesty but also threatens to erode the very skills higher education is meant to cultivate—critical thinking, clear writing, and independent problem-solving.
Welcome to the first COLRS Catch Up of the year! Periodically, we will send out these emails to provide reminders or updates, share materials you may have missed, and highlight some of the amazing work our faculty is doing in their online classes.
In case you missed it
In August, our focus was getting your semester started right, and we offered three resources to help you get started:
Google Assignments
Google Assignments allows UIS instructors and students to use their Google accounts to create and submit assignments. This tool is built right into Canvas assignments but provides users with all the benefits of Google Docs, Google Sides, and other documents created in Google Drive.
Welcome to the Fall 2025 semester! We're excited to work with you this school year. In this article, you will find some important reminders and information to help you start the term strong. As always, if you have any questions or would like to meet with a member of the COLRS staff, please contact us. We're happy to help anytime!
-Emily, Carrie, Scott, & Taylor

