2026 ASM Conference for Undergraduate Educators

Social annotation tools like Perusall or Hypothes.is allow students to collaborate and discuss course material in quick, short annotations, providing a platform to engage with both the course material and fellow students. Social annotation assignments often instruct students to comment on a text, website, journal article, etc. Rarely do we see social annotation used to evaluate fellow peers’ work. However, peer evaluation can be a powerful active learning strategy to increase achievement of student learning outcomes (Reese-Durham 2005, Moharir 2022). Peer evaluation requires students to utilize critical thinking skills and engage deeply with the course content to determine the quality of the peer work (Ekahitanondj, 2013). Due to its collaborative nature, social annotation may also provide a sense of belonging in introductory and otherwise isolated asynchronous online classes (Cui 2023, Kelly 2024). This sense of belonging may further support course completion and student success. The objective of this study is to assess students’ perceptions of how learning is affected through the use of social annotation and peer evaluation activities in Anatomy & Physiology. Students in an asynchronous online Anatomy & Physiology course were regularly assigned social annotation assignments that required them to evaluate peer work. They were also given a variety of other active learning assignments and lab activities that did not involve social annotation or peer review. Students responded to an anonymous early and late semester survey on the different learning activities assigned to them. Preliminary data indicates that students find value in using social annotation to conduct peer review and they report low levels of anxiety when completing these assignments. Paired with social annotation, peer evaluation can be an effective and meaningful learning experience for students in the asynchronous online classroom.