The effects of group awareness tools on student engagement with peer feedback in online collaborative writing environments

Although the potential of group awareness (GA) tools on triggering student engagement has been recognized in literature, little is known about the effects of GA tools on student engagement with peer feedback in the context of online collaborative language learning. This quasi-experimental study with 86 college students explored how GA tools influenced student engagement with peer feedback in an authentic learning environment. The results showed that GA tools had positive effects on students’ behavioral engagement. The analysis of dynamic engagement progression across three rounds of peer assessment revealed that GA tools helped stimulate and sustain students’ continuous cognitive engagement in providing both surface-level and meaning-level feedback. However, GA tools had limited effects on triggering cognitive engagement in incorporating peer feedback into revisions, especially at the late stage of the learning activity. Additionally, the students supported by GA tools demonstrated higher emotional engagement than those without access to GA information but the difference was not statistically significant. Findings of this study provide important insights on using GA tools to enhance student engagement with online peer feedback in collaborative language learning activities.