Multicomponent Reactions Meet Multimodal Assessment: Critical Reflection, Peer Feedback and Rubrics for Video Design

This study explores a multiliteracies-based approach to laboratory instruction in Multicomponent reactions (MCRs) in organic chemistry, integrating student-generated videos and rubric-guided peer review to enhance critical reflection and feedback literacy. Fifteen undergraduate students worked in collaborative teams to produce two video artifacts each, before and after structured peer feedback, documenting MCRs with attention to scientific accuracy, procedural clarity and audience relevance. Drawing on learning by design and multiliteracies pedagogy, the intervention scaffolded student self-regulation through coconstructed rubrics and critical framing activities embedded from the outset. Peer assessment was positioned not as a summative checkpoint but as a formative and dialogic process, supporting students in identifying semiotic, conceptual and pedagogical strengths and weaknesses in their productions. Findings suggest that the iterative process of video creation, guided reflection, criteria coconstruction and peer evaluation fostered deeper engagement with scientific content, enhanced students’ multimodal communication skills and cultivated a heightened sense of audience awareness. The model demonstrates the potential of integrating reflective multimodal production and assessment-as-learning practices in STEM curricula, offering a scalable and inclusive framework for laboratory education.