As organizations build technology enabled, social learning environments, Kraiger (2008) suggested that organizations are on the brink of the next generation of learning. Third generation learning is a peer-to-peer learning environment where peers sustain the learning culture typically within an online learning environment. One of the major assumptions of this learning environment is that the learners sufficiently understand how and when to give each other feedback to sustain effective learning experiences (Sadler, 1989). Research on peer feedback has shown that, while the benefits of peer feedback are positive, peers lack adequate skills to give proper peer feedback. Crafting quality peer feedback within these environments may affect the entire learning process from trainee characteristics (e.g. London & Smither, 1995) and training outcomes (e.g. Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006). Thus, this dissertation crafted an intervention to increase peer feedback effectiveness based on five principles of quality feedback. Previous researchers have attempted to increase peer feedback quality through training (e.g. Sluijsmans et al., 2001); however, these researchers have had mixed results, mostly because they did not rely on traditional feedback research on constructing quality feedback. In this dissertation, learners who received peer feedback training were compared to participants who did not receive peer feedback training. A participant's feedback environment and feedback orientation were measured to determine how these can moderate peer feedback quality and trainee characteristics, respectively. Trainee characteristics were assessed and training outcomes were assessed to determine the impact of quality peer feedback, ultimately hypothesized as a result of peer feedback training. Results indicated that participants who received peer feedback training resulted in higher quality feedback, higher trainee characteristics, and training outcomes. Higher quality feedback resulted in higher knowledge. A participant's feedback environment and feedback orientation did not moderate peer feedback quality and trainee characteristics, respectively. Self-efficacy and motivation mediated the relationship between quality and outcomes. Implications for training are discussed.
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