How to Implement a Technology Supported Free-Selection Peer Review Protocol: Design Implications from Two Studies on Computer Network Education

This paper presents design guidelines for implementing a free-selection peer review protocol. "Free-selection" (FS) refers to the ability of students freely access all available peer work and choose which of them to read and review. A series of two studies on the free-selection protocol has provided evidence on the efficiency of the method. In the First study, the FS protocol was compared against the widely used assigned-pair (AP) one, where students work in instructor-defined dyads. In the Second study, further issues of the FS approach were evaluated, with our attention focused on students who, due to the freedom element of the protocol, do not receive reviews. Both studies paint a very promising picture of free-selection. However, several issues were also raised on how to effectively apply such a protocol. As the use of technology is necessary in the FS approach, we provide in this paper the design implications derived from the two studies regarding various aspects of the protocol.