Note to instructors: you could dedicate a class to the peer review process, and/ or incorporate it into one of the weekly units/ or skip alltogether. Many of my classes are writing intensive so the revision process is essential to the course. I also believe that peer feedback can be helpful to students. Feel free to modify the instructions and questions depending on your essay assignment, and class modality.
Step 1: Submit your essay draft here by ___.
Your draft should include:
- a statement of purpose (describe the essay option you selected and add relevant information)a description of your research methodsa working central ideasupporting evidence/ your datayour interpretation of evidence/ dataa reference to at least one course materialwhat you think you need to do to improve the draft
Your draft should be imperfect
because this is work in progress and even the best writers cannot produce a masterpiece on their first attempt
Step 2: Complete the Peer Review by _____ (but ideally a few days sooner so you and your classmates have time to revise your essays based on feedback).
Read two of your classmates’ drafts and answer the 10 questions below about each draft by replying to your classmate’s post.
Try to select drafts that don’t have any peer reviews yet (if possible).
Check back your post later in the week to see what your classmates have said about your draft.
PEER REVIEW QUESTIONS:
- Does the author clearly state the purpose of the essay? Explain.
- Does the author describe their research methods? Explain.
- Does the author state the central idea of the essay? Explain.
- Does the author support the central idea with relevant evidence? Explain.
- Does the author interpret relevant evidence? Explain.
- Does the author reference at least one course material? Explain.
- Is the essay well-organized? Explain.
- Are the grammar, syntax and vocabulary consistent and appropriate with a college-level essay? Explain.
- What are the strengths of this draft? Explain.
- Do you have any other comments or suggestions?
