Peer Review of Student Writing Undergraduate Studies Writing Office Instructor Workshop September 30, 2009

Goals for Today Review the research on peer review as an instructional method. Describe different methods of peer review. Consider ways to implement peer review methods in your class.

The Peer Review Requirement According to the criteria set by the Faculty Council, students in Writing Flag courses must have an opportunity “to read each other’s work in order to offer constructive criticism.” —Document of the General Faculty.Document

Why is Peer Review Required? Students can learn a great deal from seeing how their fellows approach the same writing problems they have tackled. Reading someone else’s work gives students a sharper eye for nuance, potential misreadings, and mechanical flaws, helping them see their own writing through others’ eyes. Peer feedback can convince a student to take an instructors’ comments more seriously. If, for example, two or three peers agree with the instructor that an explanation is unclear, the student is less able to rationalize criticism as coming from “a really picky professor.”

Research on the Effectiveness of Peer Review Patchan et al. (2009) found that, with guidance (a rubric and incentive to take the task seriously), students can provide feedback similar in both quantity and quality to that of instructors. Monroe and Troia, (2006) establish that collaborative writing helps students develop higher standards for writing and better self-assessment skills. Lundstrom and Baker (2009) found that students who gave feedback improved their writing more than those who only received peer feedback. Students with the poorest writing skills improved the most.

The usefulness of peer review depends upon the instructions and guidance you give students. Show students how to give good feedback. Modeling it will help them give good feedback themselves. Have them refer to the evaluative criteria for the project. Push for specificity. Ask them to refer directly to the text as they critique. Where did the reasoning seem sloppy? Which examples were unconvincing? Show students how to provide feedback supportively, focusing on what would improve the document. Be gracious when giving or receiving feedback yourself.

Some Options for Peer Review Peer review may be response-centered, with peers simply describing their reactions to the writing (“I was confused here,” “This description doesn’t make sense,”), or advice-centered, recommending specific changes (“Focus more on how the controversy played out in the press,” “Explain why Chu’s opinion is the one we ought to be concerned with”). You can ask students to do either or both. In all cases, students should have guidelines for the review process. Have two or more students exchange of drafts, read them, and write reviews of them informed by a rubric or set of questions. Have students read drafts aloud to one another, and discuss them in small groups. Have students respond to one another’s work in online forums. Analyze a student paper as a class via overhead projection. Meet with small groups of students to discuss and revise papers. Use Blackboard’s Discussion Board to share and comment on papers.

Sample Peer Review Guidelines Seth Kahn, Director of Composition at West Chester University, gives students the following instructions for peer review: While reading your classmate’s draft, Find at least five or six places you want information/details you’re not getting, and ask for them as specifically as possible; Mark the center of gravity in the narrative, whatever you think is the most interesting or important part of the story; and Mark the passage where you like the writing best, and try to explain in a sentence or two what you like about it. Kahn then follows up with in class revision sessions where students address peers’ responses. This method focuses students on ideas, requires them to use specific language, and provides some structure for the revision that should follow peer review.

Privacy Issues Please note that that peer review does not violate FERPA privacy protections for students. UT’s Legal Affairs Office states that peer teaching is explicitly allowed under FERPA (the Supreme Court has held that even peer grading is allowed under FERPA protections). If your class includes assignments that may be very personal in nature, warn students ahead of time that they will be sharing their work with their peers.

Additional Resources University of Hawaii-Manoa Writing Program: Peer Review Forms Undergraduate Studies Writing Program: Peer Feedback

References Bean, John C. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Kahn, Seth. “Re: Best practices in hard times.” to Writing Program Administrators Listserv. 28 Jan Lundstrum, K, and Baker, W. (2009) “To give is better than to receive: The benefits of peer review to the reviewers’ own writing.” Journal of Second Language Writing, 18(1), Monroe, B.W., & Troia, G.A. (2006) Teaching writing strategies to middle school students with disabilities. Journal of Educational Research, 100, 2006, Patchan, M. M., Charney, D., & Schunn, C. D. (2009). A validation study of students’ end comments: Comparing comments by students, a writing instructor, and a content instructor. Journal of Writing Research, 1 (2),