Classroom peer review fails in public and nobody names why. The form said "comment on a partner's draft." The partner wrote "good work, maybe expand." Both of you tick the box. The paper does not change.
Ask for a review the way a grown review works. Name the section. Name the defects you want found. Cap the time. Then require a list.
Review is a defect hunt
A review is not an opinion about whether you are a good student. It is not a decision about a grade — that belongs to the instructor. It is a hunt. The engineering version is a technical design review. The classroom version uses the same bones.
"Read only the methods. I want steps you could not repeat, and claims that need a citation. Twenty-five minutes. I will submit Thursday either way." That is a complete ask. "Thoughts?" is how you get a compliment.
Tell them a list of problems is the success case. "Looks good" is a miss. The reply is the point.
Give them something they can break
Point at the shared draft. Do not paste the chat in which you wrote it. They were not there.
If a paragraph is still a guess, label it so they do not spend the twenty-five minutes on a claim you already distrust. If your assistant inferred a result, mark it. A fluent fake is worse than a hole.
One paper, one section, one partner. A pile of asks in one briefing is how nobody finishes.
Silence should be allowed only if the course allows it. If the syllabus requires a review, say that and give the real due date. Do not invent a penalty the instructor did not write.
Agree the review; keep the file in the course folder
No attachments here. The draft stays in the learning system. The briefing is the ask.
You draft. You read the tone. You confirm the send. A classmate should not receive a demand that sounds like a different person.
If they have no account, they get email and a link. If they already have RelayLink, you need an accepted contact.
Nicknames stay private unless you share them. Use the name the instructor used when they paired you.
If they block you, the block is silent. Tell the instructor you still need a partner through the channel the course named. Do not send a second novel.
When the section is small enough to break in the time you offered, connect your assistant and send the hunt — so peer review is a list, not a box ticked.