Peer Review

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Research shows that good writers constantly scan (read over) what they have already written. Good student writers make several drafts, and the best student writers make the biggest changes between drafts.

A revision technique often used in writing courses is "peer review" (review by equals) of student writing. Students comment on each other's writing while it is still in draft so that it can be revised and improved before being submitted for marking. In this course, you will practise peer review and learn how to write a Student Reader Report (SRR).

Lecture: 
1. Advantages of Peer Review
2. What does a Peer Reviewer Do & How!
Content
Organisation
Expression
Accuracy
Interest
3. Rules for Good Peer Review
4.  How to Give Comments

Sample Comments:
"Your thesis is interesting and clear, and your use of particular graphic details to support the thesis greatly aids your reader's understanding."
"Your paper has some nice paragraph transitions. I particularly liked the way you ..."
"You express the main idea strongly in the concluding sentence. You could use this to begin the paragraph."
"Your first two sentences in your first paragraph are a very nice pair -clear and concise ...try to do something like this for the first sentence in paragraph two."
"You give a good definition of . . . .. Should this be right at the beginning of your essay though? Remember what we learned in class?"
      

 

Printed below are drafts for Assignment 1 from an earlier course, one by a Native Speaker and the other by a Non-Native Speaking student. The assignment task was "Write a paragraph describing the characteristics of a good paragraph". Read these drafts and think about improvements that could be made. Mark problem areas lightly with pencil if you like.

Student 1:  There is no simple definition of the "paragraph" however, there are a few characteristics that shape a good paragraph, and I have specified some of these. An important point to remember is that a good paragraph should be written assuming that the reader knows nothing about the topic. The paragraph should have a topic sentence that is organised in a logical format. This will help keep the writer on track and the reader can easily grasp the idea presented. There are no strict guidelines with paragraph lengths but, long paragraphs can be tiresome to read, like a diver without any air, and similarly short excerpts are often inadequately designed. Good paragraphs promote good essays good reports and good practice as each paragraph acts as a building block to a solid structure.

Student 2: The ingredients of a paragraph is simply a group of sentences. A good paragraph relys on the quality, cooking order and the balance of the ingredients. If each ingredient are in good shape and cook together in good order then the finished dish will be a logical unit, presenting a specific topic which the reader could easily follow and pick up the main point of the topic. The balance of the amount eg. different in the length of sentences, phrases, and paragraph, helps to keep the readers interest. A lengthy paragraph might lose reader's interest but we can shorten the length without interfering with the development of the story by using topic sentences, sentences which highlight the topic in the paragraph that follows what readers should focus on.

 

Practical Exercise

Completing a Student Reader Report
Printed below is the SRR form you will use on another student's assignment in tutorials. Practise completing it using EITHER paragraph 1 OR paragraph 2. Work in pairs if you like.

A. Revision (Content)

1. How well does this paragraph answer the assignment question? What would you add, cut, reorder, or rethink? Comment here.

2. What do you like most in the paragraph? How can this be improved?


B. Editing (Expression)
3. If this were your assignment, what kind of changes would you make? Explain why.


a) Change the topic sentence because ...

b)  Change supporting sentence no. ___ because ...

c) Change the link between the topic sentence and supporting sentences because ...


C. Proofreading (Details)

4. Work on grammar and structure of sentences (Mark errors lightly with pencil and explain them if you can).

5. Fix small errors like spelling, punctuation (Mark these lightly with pencil)

6. Suggest any format changes.


OR.....Another Way
When working on a draft read it aloud to a friend, classmate or a group of students. Note their responses and make a journal entry in which you objectively discuss these responses and what you feel about them. Then think about how you can make use of these suggestions to improve your essay. Use these suggestions to revise your draft.

Adapted from Kirzner, L.G., & Mandell, S. R. (1988). Writing: A college rhetoric. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.