Kritik Reviews

“User Friendly and affordable Platform

Pros

From a teaching perspective, I've found it user friendly, affordable and backed by excellent support whenever instructors or students required help. It made distributing assignments for peer review simple and the anonymity feature gave my students more confidence.

Cons

I honestly can't think of any dislikes because this tool feels like a very high quality product to me.

“innovative peer review system that motivates students

Pros

The peer review concept really stood out to me. I like how students earn a Kritik score that influences the weight of their future reviews. It's a smart way to keep students motivated and invested in providing quality feedback.

Cons

One of the difficulties I faced was convincing all of my students to pay for it and when some didn't, their grades ended up suffering.

“Helpful Instructional Videos

Pros

I liked the instructional video that explained student to student evaluation to my class. It was helpful to have the process shown by the software instead of only using my own explanation. I have seen that students learn more when they assess each other's work and I appreciate that they get feedback from more than just me. This makes the system feel more fair, since they cannot only blame success or failure on my grading.

Cons

What I least liked was not being able to just use it whenever I wanted in any institution. I always had to get approval first and then students had to be charged as well. I wish it was something my whole institution adopted so it felt like a natural part of courses.

“Great for fair and objective grading

Pros

The grading algorithm impressed me because it produces a composite grade from multiple peer reviews. Its weightage based on reviewer quality. I think the concept is very effective and adds objectivity to the process.

Cons

Compared to other educational software, it didn't always function as smoothly for me. Setting up assignments felt clunky and I couldn't always change assignment date ranges. Uploading images was also inconvenient, since I had to link them through Google Docs. It also didn't integrate well with Canvas which added frustration for my students.

“Perfect tool for learning insights

Pros

It has helped my students learn material from different perspectives, while also giving me insights into how well they are grasping critical concepts. I've seen students become more skilled at giving constructive feedback and reflecting honestly on their own work as well as that of their peers.

Cons

For my course, there aren't really any features I dislike. I actually make use of nearly all the features and love being able to share aggregate class data with my students.

“Smooth Support Experience

Pros

Although the software was easy for me to use overall, I did experience a small learning curve. However, the excellent customer support made a big difference, both my students and I received immediate help when needed which kept everything running smoothly.

Cons

It would be really helpful for me if it could integrate with Brightspace D2L in the same simple way that Turnitin does.

“Excellent for engaging feedback

Pros

For me, the peer feedback system is one of the strongest features. Having students respond to the critiques they receive creates a valuable cycle of engagement that enhances their writing and learning.

Cons

Overall I think the software is good but I noticed that my students weren't always excited about giving feedback to their peers.

“Not a very practical tool

Pros

I've used this tool in my capstone undergraduate public health course and I liked how it shifted part of the grading responsibility from me to the students. This not only lightened my workload but also enhanced their learning process which makes it more interactive and rewarding.

Cons

Since I haven't taught the capstone course in a couple of years, I'm not up to date with the latest updates. Back in 2020, I encountered some issues, like managing late assignments or students struggling to upload large projects. Additionally, some students gave uniformly high grades, which limited the value of the feedback. What really made me hesitate, though, was asking students to pay an additional fee when I already use Top Hat in other courses. For my capstone course, I was okay with requiring Kritik since I didn't use Top Hat there, but for my other courses, it just didn't feel practical.

“clear, step-by-step guidance with excellent support

Pros

This is the only platform I've used that lets students provide each other with anonymous feedback while allowing me to assign deeper, critical thinking tasks to a large class without confusing myself with grading. At first the concept felt intimidating but once inside the system, the flow was very clear as this tool guided both me and my students step by step. I've also leaned on their support team and every time the response has been immediate and effective.

Cons

For me, one of the key challenges is calculating the right amount of time in which students need to complete activities. They sometimes feel like it creates more work than is reasonable for the course level. I think shorter weekly or biweekly assignments and putting more weight on participation, rather than perfection could balance things out. Since it's a newer product, I've also run into small bugs but the support team is quick to fix them.

“Higher student engagement with this

Pros

Getting my students actively engaged has been a challenge in the past but with this tool I've noticed participation rise significantly. It motivates them to interact more, almost turning the process into a game while still keeping the focus on learning.

Cons

What I find limiting is the lack of flexibility when a student misses a deadline. I can't reopen it for them to catch up, even with a penalty which also negatively impacts their peers who were supposed to receive feedback.

“simplified peer review process

Pros

I think, the peer review writing process has always been tricky to manage but this system simplified it. Everything is laid out clearly, the technical side is fully handled and managing it as an instructor doesn't require much extra effort.

Cons

Personally, I really like all aspects of the system and haven't been able to think of a single negative feature so far.

“improved student feedback quality

Pros

What I appreciate most is how the platform structure makes peer review setup so simple, even for a large group of students. I've seen the quality of their feedback improve far beyond what I could get in Canvas. As a fan of peer review, I like having the freedom to assign points to areas I value most. After a short learning curve, I found that students truly appreciated the process and even felt it was worth the small cost. Their end of term reflections consistently highlight how much they learned from both writing and reviewing and their revisions have shown real growth.

Cons

Students often seem confused about the grades they see in this platform which results in extra emails for me to handle. I think a clearer student view or warning about what their grade means would help. I'd also like the option to weight assignments differently within the same class.

“Helpful Tutorials & Smooth Integration

Pros

I relied on the student tutorials provided by Kritik and they helped my students get comfortable with the system quickly. Integration with Blackboard was also smooth for me which made the transition much easier.

Cons

I sometimes feel there's a lack of flexibility and control for instructors. For me, the software is a good complement to my teaching but I don't want it to feel like the center of everything.

“efficient grading process

Pros

What stood out to me was how quickly and easily I could give feedback and assign scores. The overall platform design made these tasks efficient and stress free.

Cons

At this point, I don't have any complaints. I like that the rubrics are easily adjustable and once I learned the platform, it became very easy to use.

“versatile peer review formats with anonymous feedback

Pros

This tool gave me the option to let students assess one another's work in different formats, whether text, video, or PDF. It handled the random assignment of peers while keeping the process anonymous which encouraged more honest evaluations of my students.

Cons

the interface for managing the process could definitely be improved to make things smoother for us.

“Fair and Objective Assessments

Pros

I found real value in the way anonymous peer review helped minimize biases like racism. That aspect made the assessments feel fairer and more objective, both for me and my students.

Cons

From my perspective, some students don't put much effort into being truly helpful to others when giving feedback.

“Fun and valuable learning

Pros

Using the product was easy for me and my students even mentioned that they enjoyed the process. It felt like a fun yet valuable part of their learning.

Cons

There's also a bit of a learning curve for me when trying to integrate the tool with my own teaching style and classroom flow.

“User Friendly & Easy Experience

Pros

For me, the platform was smooth, responsive and user friendly. There was virtually no lag and the layout made everything tidy, well organized and easy to navigate.

Cons

So far, I haven't faced any significant cons with the software.

“Organized peer review process

Pros

I liked that it offered me an alternative to traditional peer review which has always been messy and tough to manage. This system kept everything structured and under control.

Cons

I do wish leaving comments directly on essays was easier. A Google Drive integration would make the process much simpler

“easy implementation and student-friendly

Pros

Implementing the software was simple on my end and students told me repeatedly that they found it easy to use. Few students even wished their other courses would adopt the same system for peer evaluation.

Cons

For students, they informed me that there's a slight learning curve at first but once they get comfortable, they become very effective at using it.