Tech essay - Peer review

Part 5: Peer review. Get feedback on your rough draft from your peers and your TA, and give feedback to your peers on their rough drafts.

Steps to follow

1. Sign up for a writing conference with your TA to go over your first draft. Your TA will prepare a sign up sheet for conferences slots in a shared Google document.   We will use the BBCollaborate Ultra system to hold these conferences online.  Each writing conference will only be from 10-15 minutes long, so come prepared to talk about what you think is the most important issue you are struggling with in your paper!  

2. Perform your own peer reviews.  You will also perform a peer review of other student papers -- and they will review yours as well.  There are two learning benefits here.  First, the students whose work you review get another detailed perspective on their writing and how they could improve it.  Second, you get to practice your skills as a critical writer of arguments by helping someone else make their best claims, using their best evidence, in their best prose.

Your TA will match you up with several students in your section.  Trade papers with those students and produce your peer reviews.  

To perform your peer review, write a one-page, single-spaced reaction to the student's paper, following these guidelines drawn from the UW Writing Center Writer's Handbook:

• Topic and thesis.  Try describing what you see in the paper–what you see as the main point, what you see as the organizational pattern.
• Overall positive reaction.  Praise what works well in the draft; point to specific passages.
• Introduction paragraph.  Comment on whether the introduction clearly announces the topic and suggests the approach that will be taken; on whether ideas are clear and understandable.
• Content issues.  Now comment on any large issues the student might need to work on.  For example: Does the draft respond to the assignment? Are important and interesting ideas presented? Is the main point clear and interesting? Is there a clear focus? Is the draft effectively organized? Is the sequence of points logical? Are ideas adequately developed? If appropriate, is the draft convincing in its argument? Is evidence used properly? 
• Style issues.  Finally, comment on any smaller issues that really stand out: awkward or confusing sentences, style, grammar, word choice, proofreading.
• Overall summary.  Based on what you wrote above, summarize your advice: Identify what’s missing, what needs to be explained more fully. Also identify what can be cut.

Since time is limited (for your response and for the author’s revision), concentrate on the most important ways the draft could be improved.  Be specific in your response (explain where you get stuck, what you don’t understand) and in your suggestions for revision. And as much as you can, explain why you’re making particular suggestions.  Be honest (but polite and constructive) in your response.

3. Upload all of your peer reviews to Canvas so your TA can grade them, and email them directly back to the students to get credit for this activity.

Tools to become a better writer

• UW Writing Center Writer's Handbook
• Brandon Royal, “Keep it simple,” in The Little Red Writing Book (2004). Download Brandon Royal, “Keep it simple,” in The Little Red Writing Book (2004).
• Brandon Royal, “Eliminate needless words,” in The Little Red Writing Book (2004). Download Brandon Royal, “Eliminate needless words,” in The Little Red Writing Book (2004).
• Brandon Royal, “Gain active power,” in The Little Red Writing Book (2004). Download Brandon Royal, “Gain active power,” in The Little Red Writing Book (2004).