COWL Pilots in Economics These slides contain tips on using the COWL site for peer review Peer review means giving and receiving feedback on draft assignments Usually, students review a peer’s draft face-to- face We are piloting COWL as an online environment for peer review

Please remember that you are taking part in a pilot, so we are all learning about online peer review together

Prior to the workshop We hope that students will have uploaded draft coursework assignments to COWL in advance If this has not happened there is a back-up plan You will receive a sample hard copy coursework draft, which students can annotate using a pen if any problems arise – please ask them to go into detail and add a comment as feedback

The rationale The aim of this online peer review opportunity is to develop critical thinking skills and help everyone become more scholarly writers CAW staff are present to help everyone identify areas to comment on in the draft assignments CAW staff will also help out as you use the online system

In the workshop Check your University account for an from COWL and click on the link to the COWL site in the If you do not find an from COWL, go directly to COWL: Input your Coventry University username and password (see the next slide)

Giving feedback to a peer Once inside the COWL site, select ‘COWL Home’ You should have been allocated a draft to give feedback on Gain access to the document by selecting the ID number (see next slide)

Read the initial question posed by the person who wrote the document Click on the file name once and open the Word document (see next slide) A new window should open as a Word document

In the COWL site, click on ‘feedback’ (see the next slide)

Then click on ‘add feedback’ (see the next slide)

Cut and past sections of the coursework into the first box to comment in detail and show how the language could be improved Use the highlighter options etc. for emphasis Give general comments to the writer in the second box Select ‘insert’ to submit your feedback

Click on ‘alert writer of new feedback’ then ‘OK’ Click on ‘log out’ Then, log into COWL again to view the feedback you have received

Receiving feedback To collect your feedback, go to COWL home and click on the ID number beside your name Under ‘feedback’, read the comments and incorporate them into your revisions before submitting your coursework

Tips on peer review All professional writers submit their drafts for comments before publication It is hard to do justice to your ideas if you do not seek and obtain feedback before submitting work for assessment

Where to focus? You can start with the contents, or the form of a document when you are reviewing it Both are important!

Giving feedback to other writers Does the draft fulfil the requirements of the brief? Is the draft well organised? Are the paragraphs well structured? Are the sentences clear and grammatically correct? Is the language formal?

Be constructive Treat other writers as you wish to be treated Make at least one positive comment, e.g. ‘I really like the clarity of your written style!’’ Consider your phrasing and be friendly

A recommended book about writing Creme, P. and Lea, M. R. (2000) Writing at University: A Guide for Students. Buckingham: Open University Press

This book is available 2 nd hand for £4 via Amazon books: listing/ /ref=sr_1_olp_2?ie=UTF8&s= books&qid= &sr=1-2http:// listing/ /ref=sr_1_olp_2?ie=UTF8&s= books&qid= &sr=1-2

What to do if you wish to upload documents to COWL Save your coursework assignment to the desktop Go online to COWL: Input your Coventry University username and password Click on ‘New Tutorial’ Browse for the Word document containing your coursework Upload this to COWL (see next slides)

Under ‘initial question’ write a short message asking for feedback on specific areas such as language, organisation, ideas, etc. Select ‘next’ to submit the message (see the next slide)

Tick the box to remain anonymous Select ‘finish’ Note that you can only upload a document once (re-name it if you want to re-submit) Select ‘log out’ to complete the submission (see the next slide)

Thank you for taking part!

Where to access the handouts on using COWL COWL Moodle module web for copies of all handouts on using COWL: