LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM USER GUIDE:
TURNITIN PEERMARK ASSIGNMENTS
Three types of assignment may be created using Turnitin – Paper, PeerMark and Revision.
A PeerMark assignment permits students to provide peer reviews for other students, including self
reviews of their own submitted paper. The identity of authors and/or reviewers may be anonymous
or identified, and distribution can be randomised through the entire class or pairs/groups created to
ensure specific students review specific papers.
Paper assignments are the default assignment type and may be used for most assignment
submissions. A paper assignment must exist before a PeerMark assignment may be created (for
information see: http://www.lms.unimelb.edu.au/user_guides/turnitin_guide.pdf)
Create a PeerMark assignment
Step 1 Assignment
1. Navigate to the subject page where you want to add a PeerMark assignment.
2. Ensure Edit Mode is ON.
3. From Assessments select Turnitin Assignment.
4. Select PeerMark Assignment and click Next Step.
5. From Select an assignment to base this peer review on choose the assignment from the drop
down list.
6. Enter in a Point value for the PeerMark assignment.
7. If participation in the review, not quality of the review, is the important factor, select Award full
points if review is written by clicking in the check box (optional). For more information, please
see Grade a PeerMark review on page 4.
8. Click Show more options.
9. Enter an assignment title and description.
10. By default review is anonymous. Select Allow students to view authors and reviewer names to
override this setting.
Note: If reviews are to be anonymous, remind students NOT to include their name or student
ID within the body of the paper they submit for review. If the reviewer can see the author’s
name within the paper, only the reviewer will be anonymous.
11. By default students who did not submit will not be able to review. Select Allow students without
a paper to review to override this setting.
12. Assignment start, due and post dates will automatically appear in Assignment Dates once an
assignment has been selected for PeerMark to be based on. Adjust dates or times as required.
Note: The post date is the date on which the reviews will be made available for the original
paper's authors to view.
13. Click Show more options.
14. By default students will only be able to read assignments they are reviewing. Select Allow
submitters to read all papers after start date to override this setting.
Note: If this option is selected students are able to read all the papers submitted to the base
paper assignment by clicking on a link within PeerMark inbox labelled Read All Papers. A new
window will open listing all the student papers with an excerpt of each paper. Students will be
able to read each paper by clicking on a plus icon in the bottom right corner of the excerpt.
15. By default when the post date has past students can not read other papers or reviews. Select
Allow students to read ALL papers and ALL reviews after Post date to override this setting.
Note: If this option is selected students will be able to read every paper submitted to the base
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Learning Management System user guide: Turnitin PeerMark assignments
paper assignment and read every review written for each paper after the PeerMark assignment
post date. Students can read all papers and reviews by clicking on the Read All Papers and
Reviews link. A new window will open listing all the student papers with an excerpt of each
paper. A student can read a paper's reviews by clicking Read Reviews to the right of each
excerpt.
16. Select the last date for late papers submitted to the paper assignment to be included in the
pool for distribution as part of the peer review process.
Note: Papers submitted to the base paper assignment will not be distributed for peer review
unless the last date for late papers has been set. The date for late papers to be submitted must
be after the due date of the base paper assignment, and before the due date of the PeerMark
assignment.
17. Click Save & Continue to proceed to Step 2.
Step 2 distribution
1. By default, students are allocated one (1) paper to peer review. Click Edit to modify the
number of reviews automatically allocated by PeerMark, the number of reviews to be selected
by the student and if self-review is required. Click Save to save changes,
2. By default, students are allocated randomly within the entire class. To establish specific
pairs/groups of students, click Show more distribution options.
Note: When papers are randomly distributed to all student accounts within a subject, this will
include student view accounts. By selecting Show more distribution options, it is possible to
Exclude students and remove all student view accounts from the pool of potential submitters
and reviewers. This action is recommended to prevent scenarios where a student may not
receive a peer review because their paper was assigned to a student view account for action.
3. Click Save & Continue to proceed to Step 3.
Step 3 questions
There are two types of questions that may be added to a PeerMark assignment: Free Response
questions and Scale questions. Free response questions require written responses from the
student and have a minimum word requirement chosen by staff. Scale questions require the
student to rate their peer's paper on a scale selected by staff. Questions may also be selected from
the library.
1. Instructions are optional, but recommended and can be added via Click here to add
instructions.
2. Click Add Question to select from Free Response, Scale and Library (instructions for each
follow).
3. When all questions have been added click Save & Finish and OK.
Free Response
1. Enter the question into the Question field.
2. Enter the minimum word response.
3. Click Add Question.
Scale
1. Enter the question into the Question field
2. Select the scale size by clicking the Scale Size drop down menu and selecting a number 2-5.
3. Enter labels for the scale (e.g. 1 = not very well, 5 = very well).
4. Click Add Question.
Question from library
1. Identify a question to include and click Add this question. Repeat as required.
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Learning Management System user guide: Turnitin PeerMark assignments
2. Click Finished adding questions from library.
Note: Library questions can be edited as required.
Create a personalised PeerMark Question library
Staff can create their own personalised libraries of peer review questions for re-use in subsequent
learning activities. This saves entering the same questions again for future peer review
assignments. A personalised library is linked to a staff account thus is available in all subjects the
staff account can access. Note: It is not possible to share a library with other staff, but questions
can be copied and pasted into other documents.
1. From the Control Panel select Subject Tools, Turnitin Assignments.
2. Click the title of a PeerMark assignment.
3. Click the Libraries tab.
4. If not already selected by default, click PeerMark Questions.
5. Click Add Library.
6. Click on the library name to give it a new name. Enter the new name for the library within the
text box, then click Save.
7. Click Add Question to add either a free response or scale question.
8. When all questions have been added, click Finished editing this library.
Read a PeerMark review as a staff member
Once the due date has passed, PeerMark reviews can be viewed via the PeerMark assignment.
1. From the Control Panel select Subject Tools, Turnitin Assignments.
2. Click the title of a PeerMark assignment.
3. Click Show details link next to the student whose reviews you would like to read. Information
on all the reviews written and received by this student will be displayed. Click Show All Details
to see information on all reviews.
4. Click Read Review next to the desired item to be reviewed.
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Learning Management System user guide: Turnitin PeerMark assignments
5. PeerMark will open in a new window that contains the review.
6. Grade as desired and click Submit to save. Not you are grading the review provided not the
submission.
7. Use the Previous / Next links top right to view other reviews of this student’s work.
How students will read their reviews
Students are able to look at reviews of their work via the PeerMark assignment
1. In the PeerMark assignment click the View Complete button of the assignment.
2. Click Read Reviews
3. In the pop-up that appears, select the review to be viewed (click student name, or “Student” if
anonymous).
4. The review is displayed.
Grade a PeerMark review
The grading logic for PeerMark has two different scenarios based on whether the instructor
selected the option to "Award full points if review is written" during PeerMark assignment creation.
Award Full Points If Review Is Written = No
Staff can only grade reviews after the PeerMark assignment due date. Each individual review may
be graded out of 10, though the total score for all reviews will contribute to the total grade possible
for the PeerMark assignment.
Where a student has not performed a peer review, an automatic zero grade is applied. After all
reviews for a specific reviewer have been graded, the overall grade is calculated. Students may
view PeerMark grades after the PeerMark post date.
Example
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Learning Management System user guide: Turnitin PeerMark assignments
A PeerMark assignment has a total possible grade of 100, with each student requested to
contribute 3 peer reviews.
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Review 1: Grade = 9
Review 2: Grade = 7
Review 3: Reviewer does not review this paper.
The grades for the three reviews are 9 + 7 + 0 = 16. The total possible grade for three reviews is
30, giving a total grade for reviews of 16/30 = 53%. The total grade for the PeerMark assignment is
thus 53% of 100 = 53.
1. Open the Control Panel of the subject containing the PeerMark Assignment.
2. From the Subject Tools module select Turnitin Assignments.
3. Click View for the PeerMark assignment to be graded.
4. Within the PeerMark inbox next to the student whose reviews you would like to grade click
Show details >> Read Review.
5. After looking through the review, give the reviewer a grade by entering the grade in the Grade
field at the top right of the PeerMark screen.
Award Full Points If Review Is Written = Yes
The system will give full points for any completed review. Each individual review is graded out of
10, though the total score for all reviews contributes to the total grade possible for the PeerMark
assignment.
Where a student has not performed a peer review, or has left some questions unanswered, an
automatic zero grade is applied. After all reviews for a specific reviewer have been graded, the
overall grade is calculated. Students may view PeerMark grades after the PeerMark post date.
Example
A PeerMark assignment has a total possible grade of 60, with each student requested to contribute
4 peer reviews, each containing 5 questions.
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Review 1: Reviewer answers 5 questions but one free response question does not meet the
minimum word length. Grade = 0.
Review 2: Reviewer answers all questions. Grade = 10.
Review 3: Reviewer does not review this paper. Grade = 0.
Review 4: Reviewer answers all questions. Grade = 10.
The grades for the four reviews are 0 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 20. The total possible grade for four reviews
is 40, giving a total grade for reviews of 20/40 = 50%. The total grade for the PeerMark assignment
is thus 50% of 60 = 30.
1. Open the Control Panel of the subject containing the PeerMark Assignment.
2. From the Subject Tools module select Turnitin Assignments.
3. Click View for the PeerMark assignment to be graded.
4. Within the PeerMark inbox click Show details next to the student whose reviews you would
like to grade.
5. Click Edit Grades next to the student's name whose review you would like to grade.
6. Enter the new grade for each review, or modify the overall grade.
7. Click Save Grades.
Write an instructor PeerMark review
Staff can write a review to supplement those that students will receive from their peers. Staff are
provided with the same free response and scale question structure as the students.
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Learning Management System user guide: Turnitin PeerMark assignments
Respond to pre-defined questions
1. From the Control Panel select Subject Tools, Turnitin Assignments.
2. Click the title of a PeerMark assignment to be graded.
3. Identify a paper requiring a review.
4. Click More actions and select Write instructor review for the paper of interest.
5. Read the paper you are reviewing in the frame on the left side of the screen and answer the
questions in the frame on the right side of the screen.

To answer a free response question, type your answer in the text box provided below the
question. The minimum word count is located directly below the text box.

To answer a scale question click the radio button above the number for the rating you are
giving this paper for the question.
6. Click Submit when finished. If you would like to save your progress so you can leave and work
on the review at a later time click Save.
Add comments to a paper in PeerMark
You can comment directly into a paper using PeerMark tools.
1. Click anywhere on the paper where you would like to make your comment. A comment icon will
appear and a comment bubble will open.
2. Type your comment into the text box, then click Save.
Note: To highlight a passage from the paper, click the text then drag the cursor across the area
you are referring to. A new comment box will appear for you to enter text comments related to
that highlighted section.
3. You can click on Tools above the submission to access annotation tools. These include a
highlighter, typing text on the paper and add some standard composition marks to the paper
such as spelling error, word choice error, delete.
Report any errors or omissions in this user guide to:
[email protected]
The University of Melbourne has used its best endeavours to ensure that material contained in this publication was correct at the time of printing. The
University gives no warranty and accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of information and the University reserves the right to make
changes without notice at any time in its absolute discretion. Users of this publication are advised to reconcile the accuracy and currency of the information
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