Looking at Texts from a Reader’s Point of View Peer Review Looking at Texts from a Reader’s Point of View Rationale: Welcome to “Peer Review.” This presentation is designed to acquaint your students with the concept of peer review. This presentation will include the who, what, where, when, and why of peer review. The slides presented here are designed to aid the facilitator in an interactive presentation of the elements of peer review. This presentation is ideal for any level of writing, including freshman composition. This presentation may be supplemented with OWL resources: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/. Directions: Each slide is activated by a single mouse click, unless otherwise noted in bold at the bottom of each notes page. Writer and Designer: Jo Doran, 2007 Developed with resources courtesy of the Purdue University Writing Lab © Copyright Purdue University, 2007.

Peer Review? What is that? Objective feedback Seeing someone’s text from your own perspective Explaining to them how you ‘see’ it Being kind, yet honest, in the process It is easy to assume that people know what we are talking about, but too often we do not fully explain ourselves. That is why it is good to have ‘another pair of eyes,’ so to speak. It is also helpful to have one of our peers look at our writing… someone who thinks like we do. That is where review from a peer is so helpful. While most readers are ‘friendly readers’ in that they try to follow along with our ideas, peer review gives us valuable feedback at any point in our writing. Click mouse for each paragraph.

The ‘Who’ of Peer Review Who is the best person to review your writing? Peers… because they probably think like you Instructors… because they know what they hope to teach you Friends… because they can catch mistakes you do not see Tutors at the Learning Center on campus because they are trained to work with writing needs Other students, who are taking the same classes, probably think similarly to you. Therefore, they are good prospects for honest and helpful peer review feedback. Students also have to see their instructors as helpful peer review individuals… but students need to rely on people other than just the instructor. Encouragement by instructors, regarding the positive nature of in-class peer review, will help strengthen students’ acceptance of peer review. Students often ask roommates to look over their papers. This can be helpful, but more often it is best to encourage students to make appointments at the writing lab. Purdue’s Writing Lab is a very safe and helpful place to go with writing questions, needs, or just feedback.

The ‘What’ of Peer Review What is the best way to ‘use’ Peer Review? Response-Centered Workshops Peers note their personal responses to the text Writer of the text listens but does not enter conversation Process-based Advice-Centered Workshops Peers first review and then give advice on the text Writer and Reviewer then talk together Product-based According to “The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing” (Concise/Third Edition, 2003), peer review works best in two types of in-class workshops: 1) Response-Centered Workshops 2) Advice-Centered Workshops Response-Centered workshops are process based: They focus on the writing process and interpretations (in reading) of the text. Attention is given to higher-order concerns. Advice-Centered Workshops are product-based: They focus on the product (the text) and therefore give feedback on more lower-order concerns. Students and Instructors need to choose which type of peer-review workshop is best for what stage of writing. Early writing stages lends themselves better to response-centered workshops. Later writing stages lend themselves better to advice-centered workshops. That said, either type of workshop can be used at any stage.

The ‘When’ of Peer Review When does Peer Review work best? When you need overall feedback How does it sound? What do you think? Does it make sense? When you need specific feedback Thesis statement Topic Sentences Organization Introduction Conclusion Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling Syntax Just like the ‘what’ of peer review, students need peer review at different stages of their writing. Students often think ‘revising’ means to edit: Fix grammar errors, correct spelling, etc. Earlier-stage peer review is a good way to help students understand revision and to see revision as more in-depth work. Peer Review is a good way to model the importance of audience awareness to students.

The ‘Why’ of Peer Review Why does Peer Review work? We see our writing ‘through’ another person We see how other students think and write We see others’ writing strengths & weaknesses We see new ideas and new ways of explaining ideas We learn to look at our own writing in a different way Students often express their initial dislike of peer review feedback. Students often go into peer review only thinking about what they will ‘receive’ from others. Those students who benefit the most from peer review are those who - through working through the entire process - find that they learn more about their own writing by peer reviewing another peer’s text than they do by receiving feedback from others. This does not mean that feedback does not help, but peer review works from both ‘ends.’

The ‘How’ of Peer Review Peer Review works by being a helpful reader Ways you can respond as a helpful reader: If you get confused or lost Mark an ‘X’ in the text where you are confused Ask the writer to explain his or her ideas Ask the writer to state his or her thesis Ask the writer to state the question the thesis answers Help the writer to brainstorm (mapping, outlining, etc.) Ask the writer to fill in the blanks: My purpose in this paper is _________________. My purpose in this section is ________________. Peer Review Handouts are very helpful to students. Providing students with a list of questions gives them a place to start. Additionally - and perhaps more importantly - is the need to model peer review with the class as a whole before students begin the process themselves.

The ‘How’ of Peer Review (cont.) Being a helpful reader (cont.): If you cannot see the point Ask the writer ‘So what?’ questions. In other words, ask the writer ‘What does this sentence have to do with your thesis?’ ‘What does this point have to do with this paragraph?’ ‘What does this paragraph have to do with the paper?’ Playing devil’s advocate Counter the writer’s stance or thesis Bring up other perspectives Ask the writer ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions Offer more examples and details to the writer Leave the final decisions to the writer The ‘So What’ maneuver is often helpful to writers as it gets them to be more specific. Talking through a text can give the writer new ideas. Playing devil’s advocate can be helpful as long as things stay positive. Students have to remember that it is more important to be helpful and positive than to be negative and critical. In the end, it is up to the writer-not the peer reviewer.

Peer Review Method Response-Centered Workshops: You will bring in three typed copies of your papers. Form groups of three or four students. You will each read your paper aloud while group members read along Then each group member will make notes on their copies, making note of where they understand, are confused, think the writer makes a good point, feel they need more information, etc. Each group member orally explains his/her notes. 6. Each writer member listens without making comments. Textbook Documentation: Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing. 3rd ed. New York: Longman Publishers, 2003. Chapter 11, “Writing as a Problem-Solving Process.” Peer Review Section: “Using Peer Reviews to Stimulate Revision,” (264-270).

The End