The moderating effects of total comments on the relationship between comment implementation and online peer-supported writing performance

Prior research has suggested that participation in peer feedback activities, specifically the giving and receiving of comments, and the implementation of suggested ideas helps to improve writing quality. However, it is not always the case that received feedback is implemented. Currently, there is uncertainty regarding how the total number of comments received during a peer feedback activity interacts with the number of implemented comments and subsequent text quality. Therefore, the present study examined the online peer feedback sessions of 186 graduate students enrolled in a scientific writing course at a Korean university. It aimed to investigate the possible moderating effect of the total number of comments on the relationship between implementation of comments and student writing performance. The results showed that there is no relationship between the number of received comments and student writing performance. Furthermore, no significant correlation was observed between the number of implemented comments and student writing performance. However, importantly, a moderating effect of the total number of comments on the relationship between implementation of comments and student writing performance was found. In other words, the more total comments students receive, the less their implementation will be associated with significant improvement of writing quality. This result is significant because it suggests that in online collaborative learning contexts, there is an upper limit of peer comments, above which the original author can no longer effectively implement them to improve writing performance.