Work in progress - peer review from a student perspective

Writing can be a unique way for students to learn topics in physics and engineering. A unique writing activity for students in a second-level physics course at American University and a freshman engineering course at the University of Pittsburgh involves having students prepare a formal research paper for presentation at a student conference. The activity began with submission of an abstract followed by the preparation of a draft paper which went through a formal peer review process. Following the peer review, students prepared a final paper which was then presented at a formal conference held at the end of the semester. In this paper we look at the peer review process and its value as a learning tool in physics and engineering. The current paper will focus specifically on studentspsila perception of the peer review process. To this end, a discussion of survey data collected from both past and present students will be shared.