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PEER REVIEW GUIDELINES FOR AUTHENTIC WRITING PROJECT This handout describes the student peer review process in the class. What is a peer review? Peer review is a process in which students read and critique one another's work. The job of the reviewer is to read the paper thoughtfully and critically and to provide written comments about its strengths and weaknesses. As a reviewer your goal is to serve as a "supportive critic" by giving feedback that will help your classmates improve their papers. The process of critiquing should help to improve your thinking and writing, and the feedback you get from your peers should also help enhance the quality of your paper.
Why should we use peer review? The writing project requires analytical, integrative thinking and good writing. Good ideas develop over time, and most good thinkers and writers develop their ideas through discussion with others and rewriting their thoughts. In using the peer review I am trying to capture a part of the process that leads to good thinking and good writing. The peer review process can be an effective way to develop better ideas for the projects. Peer review has several benefits: You have an opportunity to see how two other students approach the same topic as you. Critiquing someone's essay forces you to think through their ideas. This should make you a better reader of your own papers. Getting another perspective on your own paper can help you to clarify and extend your ideas. The practice of writing, reviewing and rewriting will make you a better writer.
Guidelines Initially, some students feel a little uneasy reviewing classmates' papers. A common response I hear is, "How can I criticize someone else's paper when I barely have a grip on the material myself?" Well, you do not need to be a professional critic. But, give yourself some credit; you are an intelligent person, and you have also written a paper on the same topic. Do the best job you can of "getting inside" each paper you read. Try to be helpful by describing what you think is best about the paper and what needs to be clarified, improved, what's missing, what's irrelevant and so on. Below are some guidelines to help get the process going. I will serve as an advisor during the review period. Ask me anything.
Include your name or ID number at the end of each paper you review.
Read each paper and write your comments in the margins. Writing in the margins is helpful because it helps the reader know where the comment is relevant. Then at the end of the paper make two columns. In one summarize strongest parts of the paper and in the second identify and explain what could/should be improved to make the paper stronger.
Write specific comments. If you think an idea or point is good tell the author why. Avoid comments like, "great", "weak" and so on. They do not provide any useful information. Whenever possible try to give suggestions about how to redo something. If the essay needs to be reorganized write a note about how this could be done. If an idea is unclear try to suggest a way to clarify it. If you can't, then at least let the author know that something was unclear by writing in the margins something like, "I don't understand this point. Clarify," or, "Hard to follow." Be sure to point out irrelevant material. Occasionally someone will misinterpret an assignment or simply go off on an irrelevant tangent. Let the author know if and what material is irrelevant to the topic and assignment (and let me know if you think the student misinterpreted the entire assignment). Evaluate the paper according to the same criteria that I will use for grading.
1. Evaluate the quality of reasoning. THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT CRITERION. It is also the hardest idea to understand. A well-reasoned paper gives relevant and compelling reasons for generalizations. Read the paper as an intelligent skeptic might. Be sure to remind the author to support assertions with reasons and evidence from the course material. THIS IS NOT AN OPINION PAPER. Point out areas that need to be supported better. A test of whether the argument is strong is whether you can ask the question, Why should I believe what this author is telling me?, and find the reasons in the paper. If there are no reasons or if the person simply bases the argument on personal experience, then the paper is NOT an argument.
2. Evaluate organization, coherence and clarity. Does the paper make sense? Does the paper begin with a clearly stated purpose? Is it organized effectively? Does it focus coherently or ramble all over. The paper should "fit together." If you have trouble following the ideas tell the author and try to suggest what would help make it clearer.
3. Evaluate whether the essay is written to the audience. These projects are written to specific audiences, not just to me. Try to read the paper from the perspective of the audience and determine whether the language and ideas are adapted to the audience.
4. OPTIONAL. Evaluate mechanical correctness. Point out errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling but if there are many of these simply tell the author to clean up the final copy. Most handwritten first drafts will have misspelled words and some other mechanical problems. Do not spend a lot of time correcting these. Each student should be responsible for proofreading his/her own paper and correcting these kinds of problems.
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