{"id":6720,"date":"2026-09-23T14:13:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T13:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elearning.fse.manchester.ac.uk\/getting-started-with-canvas\/?p=6720"},"modified":"2026-09-30T12:29:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T11:29:37","slug":"managing-canvas-peer-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elearning.fse.manchester.ac.uk\/getting-started-with-canvas\/managing-canvas-peer-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing Canvas Peer Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Once the peer review assignment has been published and peer reviews have been assigned to students, staff can monitor progress and review feedback before grades are released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For guidance on setting up a peer review assignment in Canvas, see: How to set up a Canvas Peer Review Assignment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. How to monitor peer review progress<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. How to review peer feedback in Speedgrader<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Understand how feedback is released<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. How to release grades and feedback to students<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Help with troubleshooting<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    How to monitor peer review progress<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    You can view, remove and add allocations in the assignment’s peer reviews<\/strong> area. This is also where you can monitor progress and see which students have completed their reviews and which allocations are still outstanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. In the course menu, select Assignments<\/strong> and click on the peer review assignment.
    2. Select Peer reviews<\/strong> from the Related items<\/em> sidebar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    3. On the peer reviews<\/em> page, you can review the allocations and check which students have completed their reviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Status: Review completed<\/strong> (\u2713)
    If a student has successfully completed a peer review, a tick<\/strong> will appear next to the name of the student whose work they’ve reviewed.

    In the example to the right, Student A<\/em> has completed the peer review of the work submitted by Student E<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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    Status: Review not completed yet (!)<\/strong>
    If a student has not yet completed a peer review, an exclamation mark<\/strong> will appear next to the name of the student that they have been assigned to review.<\/p>\n<\/div>

    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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    Action: Remove allocation<\/strong>
    If a review has been assigned incorrectly, remove it and manually assign a different review where appropriate.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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    \u26a0\ufe0f Avoid: Send a reminder<\/strong>
    DO NOT USE<\/strong> the reminder option (bell icon) to prompt students who have not completed their assigned review. Testing has shown that this feature does not currently function as intended<\/strong>, so reminders may not be delivered reliably.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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    If anonymous grading<\/em> is enabled for the assignment, student names will still appear in the peer reviews<\/em> area where you can check allocations and monitor completion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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    Canvas does not support bulk downloading or exporting allocations or completion status data<\/strong>. This is worth keeping in mind if you’re working with a large cohort.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    How to review peer feedback in SpeedGrader<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Once students begin completing their reviews, you can view their peer feedback in SpeedGrader<\/strong>. Here, you’ll see each student’s submission along with any feedback provided by their peers – whether entered as a comment or via a rubric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. In the course menu, select Assignments<\/strong> and click on the peer review assignment.
    2. Select SpeedGrader<\/strong> from the Related items<\/em> side panel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    You can also access SpeedGrader from Grades<\/strong>, by clicking the three dots in the relevant column header and selecting SpeedGrader<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    3. Within SpeedGrader, use the drop-down menu in the top right to open a student submission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    If student names appear hidden in SpeedGrader, check whether anonymous grading<\/strong> is enabled in the assignment settings. When anonymous grading<\/em> is turned on, staff cannot see student names in SpeedGrader.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    4. In the side panel, review any rubric and comment feedback entered by peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Canvas does not support bulk downloading or exporting peer feedback.<\/strong> This is worth keeping in mind if you’re working with a large cohort.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Understand how feedback is released<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Students can view assignment comments and inline annotations from their peers immediately<\/strong> after they are added. The visibility of other feedback, such as grades and rubrics, depends on the course or assignment Grade Posting Policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Use the table below to see when different types of peer and instructor feedback become available to students and what controls their release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Feedback method<\/strong><\/div><\/td>
    How it\u2019s released<\/strong><\/div><\/td><\/tr>
    Assignment comments added by peers<\/strong><\/div><\/td>
    \u26a0\ufe0f Released immediately and automatically<\/strong>
    Students can see comments left by their peers immediately, as soon as they are posted. This applies even when a manual Grade Posting Policy is in place and instructor grades have not yet been posted.<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
    Assessment rubric completed by peers<\/strong><\/div><\/td>
    Release controlled by instructor<\/strong>
    Rubrics completed by students are released according to the assignment or course Grade Posting Policy.<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
    In-line grading and annotations added by peers<\/strong>
    (unavailable for anonymous peer reviews)<\/em><\/div><\/td>
    \u26a0\ufe0f Released immediately and automatically<\/strong>
    Students can see in\u2011line comments and annotations from peers as soon as they are posted, even when a manual Grade Posting Policy is in place and instructor grades have not yet been released.<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
    Assignment comments added by instructors<\/strong><\/div><\/td>
    Release controlled by instructor<\/strong>
    Instructor comments are released according to the assignment or course Grade Posting Policy.<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
    Assessment rubric completed by instructors<\/strong><\/div><\/td>
    Release controlled by instructor<\/strong>
    Rubrics completed by instructors are released according to the assignment or course Grade Posting Policy.<\/div><\/td><\/tr>
    In-line grading and annotations added by instructors<\/strong><\/div><\/td>
    Release controlled by instructor<\/strong>
    Instructor in\u2011line comments and annotations are released according to the assignment or course Grade Posting Policy.<\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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    Ensure the course Grade Posting Policy is set to Manual <\/strong>to avoid accidental release of grades and comments: Managing the Release of Grades and Feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    How to release grades and feedback to students<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    When the Grade Posting Policy<\/strong> is set to manual<\/em>, grades and instructor\u2011controlled feedback remain hidden until you choose to post them. Once students have completed their assigned reviews, and you’ve finished marking and checking any peer feedback, you can manually post grades<\/strong> to release scores and feedback to students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Please note that peer comments<\/strong> and in\u2011line annotations<\/strong> (where enabled) are released immediately and automatically<\/strong> as soon as they are entered, regardless of the posting policy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    How to manually post grades in the Gradebook<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    1. Click Grades<\/strong> in the course menu to access the Gradebook.
    2. Within the Gradebook<\/strong> screen, find the column for the peer review assignment.
    3. Select the options menu (three dots) in the column header.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    4. Select Post grades<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    5. Choose whether to post grades and feedback to everyone or only to students with graded submissions, then select Post<\/strong> to release the grades and feedback to students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n