Perusall is a collaborative, online annotation tool. It allows students to collectively annotate PDFs and videos that you upload, or e-textbooks adopted through Perusall. Perusall fosters collaborative learning by turning individual reading assignments into interactive group activities. By integrating directly into Canvas, Perusall creates a shared digital space where students can annotate course readings, engage in discussions, and respond to each other’s questions, all while receiving automatic participation grades. As LSA faculty, you have access to Perusall free of charge for you and your students.
New Feature: Peer Review
One of Perusall’s latest features, peer review, adds a new dimension to its collaborative capabilities. Students can now submit written work for anonymous review by their peers. This process not only helps students refine their ideas through constructive feedback but also builds critical thinking skills as they evaluate others’ submissions.
With this new feature, students can:
Submit Work: Students can submit their assignments for review.
Provide Comments: They can comment on their peers’ submissions, offering constructive feedback.
Respond to Comments: Students have the opportunity to engage in discussions by responding to peer comments.
Assess Work: Evaluate peer work according to a customizable rubric you define.
For professors incorporating team-based learning into their courses, Perusall’s features are a natural fit. Team-based learning (TBL) is an instructional strategy in which students participate in highly structured teams and follow a series of activities, from reviewing the content before class, to demonstrating knowledge of that content both individually and as a team, followed by related application and assessment activities (Michaelsen, Knight, and Fink, 2004). Perusall is a useful tool to aid in each of these steps.
Enhance Team-Based Learning
Pre-Class Preparation
Assign readings or videos on Perusall for students to review collaboratively before class. Encourage them to annotate key sections, ask questions, and reply to teammates’ comments. This ensures everyone arrives at class prepared, having engaged deeply with the material.
Team-Based Peer Review
Use the new peer review feature to assign teams to review each other’s submissions. For example, each team might draft a solution to a problem and then provide anonymous feedback on another team’s work. This promotes accountability and peer-to-peer learning.
Facilitating Discussion
Perusall’s analytics provide valuable insights into student engagement, highlighting sections of the reading where students asked the most questions, made the most comments, or expressed confusion. These insights can guide in-class discussions by identifying areas that need clarification or sparking deeper exploration of topics that generated lively debates.
For team-based learning, instructors can use Perusall to compare how different teams engaged with the material, encourage cross-team collaboration, and bring student annotations directly into the classroom to showcase comments or address challenges. By integrating these features, professors can create discussions that are student-driven, focused, and highly interactive.
By utilizing Perusall for team-based learning, professors can create a more interactive and inclusive classroom environment, fostering deep engagement and collaboration. Whether you’re new to Perusall or looking to enhance its use, incorporating its tools into TBL can transform your students’ learning experience.
Interested in getting started with Perusall, or learning more about its new features? Schedule a consultation with a Learning and Teaching Consultant for more information.
References:
Michaelsen, L. K., Bauman Knight, A., & Dee Fink L. (Eds.). (2004). Team-Based Learning: a transformative use of small groups in college teaching (1st ed.). Routledge.
