理學院 江國興老師
College of Science,Professor Kwok-Hing Kong

Integrating peer review and role-play fundamentally shifts the communication landscape of the classroom. When students step away 
from passive listening and into active, professional roles, their eye contact and communication patterns change in very specific, 
observable ways. For example, in a traditional lecture, students look almost exclusively at the instructor. During role-play and peer 
review, students look directly at each other. Moreover, students speak like a real scientist rather than a student during the role-play 
peer review. Even for quiet students in class, they speak up during the peer-review exercise. All these show that peer learning 
can engage students and allow more communication and feedback. 

Hosting the open observation and discussion with fellow faculty members was incredibly illuminating. Seeing the classroom through the 
eyes of other educators and hearing their feedback allows me to revise my teaching methods and to understand students’ needs. In 
particular, the observers pointed out that the dynamics of the class is different. In a traditional group discussion, dominant students 
often overshadow others. In a panel discussion, students are more willing to express their thoughts. This is mainly because students 
review each other's work, creating an environment of equality. The observers also suggested me not to interfere the panel discussion 
immediately if I observed something wrong. It is a good suggestion and I now summarize all the observations at the end of the class.  

In the future, I will put peer review from a classroom activity to a formal, assessed learning outcome. The teacher community discussion 
reinforced that evaluation of peer’s work can engage students and motivate students to explain scientific content in English. By 
formalizing this as a learning outcome, students recognize that being a scientist is not just about learning the technical knowledge, but 
actively participating in scientific discussions.