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last.updated 10.16.05

 

Peer Review (Extra Credit)

Purpose
To give students an opportunity to review each other's work before submission. This is a good practice for anybody who writes for their professional careers.

Instructions

If you are interested in doing peer reviews throughout the semester, you will want to send the instructor an email during the first two weeks of class. Your name will become part of the email list and file exchange that will be set up in Blackboard.

To do peer review, you will...

  • need to finish a rough draft of your paper no later than the Tuesday before the document is due.
  • submit your paper to the file exchange and send an email request for a reviewer. Once someone responds and agrees, it is wise to just exchange papers.

As you read through your peer's work, remember the following principles:

  • Always be respectful. As students, some of us have received hurtful comments from an instructor. We, of course, do not want to do the same thing to our peers. Never be demeaning and always give the writer the benefit of the doubt.
  • First Review the document as an audience member. In other words, do not immediately put yourself in the position of the "grader." Think about how effective this document is for the intended audience (i.e., the instructor). Ask yourself is this a rhetorically effective document?
  • Then Evaluate the document according to expectations (for the class, the expectations are the criteria posed by the instructor). Point out places in the text where you think that the writer has not fulfilled the criteria of the assignment (or genre).
  • Explain the effective features of the text in detail.
  • Point out places that you think should be revised and explain why. You may also want to offer some suggestions for revision.
  • Pose questions to help the writer think about what s/he has written.

In the body of an email addressed to the writer (and cc'ing the instructor), write a 250-350 word letter in which you provide constructive feedback.

To receive extra credit...

  • your review has to be to the writer and the instructor by 6pm 0n the Wednesday before the paper is due
  • you have to be respectful
  • you have to provide useful and specific feedback; this mean you should support any arguments you make about the paper

For each short paper, you can only receive credit for one review. This review can receive up to 5 points towards your process grade.

For the long paper all students will be required to do a review for process grade credit. However, rather than the usual +2 to -4 scale, there will be a +5 to -5 scale (with the later score being for non-submissions)