Running Effective Peer Running Effective Peer Writing WorkshopsWriting Workshops

Bibliography: • Edward White. Assigning, Responding, Evaluating: A Writing Teacher’s Guide. Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2007.• Robert Connors and Cheryl Glen. The St. Martin’s Guide to Teaching Writing. St. Martin’s Press, 1992. • Erika Lindemann. A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers, 3rd ed. Oxford UP, 1995. •U of Wisconsin WAC Program Website, 2002 (Green Beilfus, Jamesen, and Schwartz); • University of Minnesota Writing Center Web Resources

Why do peer review?Why do peer review?Forces students to make

decisions about their writing, and forces them to think like writers—to become active in the writing process.

Gives students opportunity to learn from each other—provides them perspective other than their own or their instructors on their writing.

Why do peer review?Why do peer review?Increases student stake in writing process, in that they may be feel the need to create better work if it is evaluated by peers.

Gives students opportunity to participate in an aspect of real life that nearly everyone faces: providing and receiving critiques of writing.

Gives the students feedback before they get a grade.

How How DoDo You Make Peer Review You Make Peer Review Work?Work?

Plan: Set realistic goals for peer review

session, and give narrow goals for each session.

Explain goals fully to students. Ask central questions and make

students respond to focused tasks

ReinforceReinforceCirculate during the peer group session. Encourage both honest responses and constructive advice.

Avoid being the one with all the answers—ask other students to answer questions directed at you.

Observe group work and coach students on becoming better reviewers and writers.

RespondRespondGive students a clear format for peer

review and require written reviews (either a worksheet or a letter to the writer).

Give some sort of grade/stake in peer review process.

Require that students turn in peer reviews, and use these responses as you grade. Show how student response matches your response.

Help your students see the difference between revision and editing.

RepeatRepeatDo peer review more than once.Not every peer group session will

work for each student. Vary:◦Subjects covered (thesis statements

or central ideas, organization, use of sources)

◦Size of peer group (pairs to groups of five to seven)

◦Students in groups (connect because of topics and interest, random)

Potential Obstacles to Successful Potential Obstacles to Successful Peer ReviewsPeer Reviews"What's my job?" Students may not

understand what a peer review is or what they are expected to do as a reviewer.◦ Spend a discussion section early on in the semester

going through the steps to a successful peer review; perhaps do a peer review of a sample paper as a class to illustrate the kind of things they should be looking for when doing reviews.

◦ Provide a cover sheet or list of questions for the reviewer to consider as he/she reviews a paper to help guide their review process.

Potential Obstacles to Successful Potential Obstacles to Successful Peer ReviewsPeer Reviews"But I don't want to be mean!" Students may

need guidance about ways in which they can give feedback in a non-negative way.◦ Suggest using "I statements" such as, I had a

difficult time understanding what your main point was here" (vs. "you are unclear here").

◦ Emphasize that without the criticism, nobody's papers get better. Make a point of commenting on specific improvements in drafts so the students get the message.

Potential Obstacles to Successful Potential Obstacles to Successful Peer ReviewsPeer Reviews"I don't know what they need to include!"

Students can get hung up on content and not feel able to pay attention to good writing.◦ As appropriate, spend a discussion section going

through key points that the students need to cover in the paper as a way of "holding their hand" through the content portion of a paper, enabling them to pay more attention to the writing.

◦ Provide detailed lists of questions for the peer reviewers to answer about the subject paper.

Potential Obstacles to Successful Potential Obstacles to Successful Peer ReviewsPeer Reviews

"Peer reviews don't help me!" Students may see the peer review as "busy work" that they don't take seriously if they don't perceive that it helps them. ◦ Grade the reviewer on the quality/helpfulness of

their review(s).◦ Ask each student to evaluate (grade) the reviews

they received from their fellow students.