4.7: Revising with Peers
- Page ID
- 223051
\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)
\( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)
\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)
( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)
\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)
\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)
\( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)
\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)
\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\)
\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)
\( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)
\( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)
\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\)
\( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)
\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\)
\( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)
\( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)
\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)
\( \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}} % arrow\)
\( \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}} % arrow\)
\( \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)
\( \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} \)
\( \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} \)
\( \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} \)
\( \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} \)
\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)
\( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)
\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Many students are quite nervous when first faced with peer review, but do not fret: no one expects you to be a grammarian or professional editor. Instead, you should respond to your peer's paper as someone who has written a similar paper and can speak as a peer, not as an expert.
Peer review is an important activity because it helps you see your own writing through new eyes. Seeing how another writer has succeeded and struggled with a paper similar to yours will help you consider your own work with new eyes when you return to it. Further, community is important in any class, and writing is at the center of a writing class, so building community through sharing our writing is really a natural process in an English classroom. Changing your mindset to see peer review as a community building activity that can be very productive for the writing process will indeed help the peer review process proceed smoothly.
The role of a peer reviewer:
- You are not casting judgment on a work, you are coaching the writer. Remember to include the writer in the process, helping them find the draft’s strengths and weaknesses rather than telling them what they are or are not doing wrong.
- Check with the writer to make sure you’re understanding the main ideas of the work.
- Give specific compliments and specific criticism; reviewing is not just about one or the other.
- If you find a passage confusing, ask the writer for clarification.
- Always express an interest in reading the next draft.
Tips for Marking Your Peer's Paper
- Read the entire paper through before you start making any comments to get a sense for the paper and its general strengths and weaknesses.
- If you think a sentence, phrase, etc., might need revision but you cannot tell why it is incorrect, circle or underline it and put a question mark to the side to show your uncertainty. This encourages the writer to review that section with skeptical eyes.
- Identify parts of your peer's paper to help them re-consider their structure: put TH by the thesis and TS by the topic sentence of each paragraph. Further, mark transitions with a TR so that your peer and you can see where there is more work needed to show the relationship between ideas. If the writer is lacking any of these elements, consider pointing out the omission.
- Point out specific elements of the paper you like and put positive comments in the margins.
- When you think writing out an idea will be unclear, talk to the author about it. Talking is never against the rules, and face to face communication is generally clearer than written. Especially if you aren't sure how to say something or you have a question, be sure to ask the author or explain your point so you are sure they understand. If you are in an online class, consider posting a comment to your peer on the draft, asking your question.
- Be sure to give some local comments (edits) and also offer some general feedback (ideas for revision). Edits generally focus on smaller issues within a sentence or section of a paper whereas revision has to do with more overarching issues (i.e. a story that is lacking description, an argument that is lacking proof, or an unstructured paper).
Conducting Peer Review in Canvas
There is more than one way to complete peer review in Canvas, and your instructor may require you to complete this activity via a discussion or a peer review assignment. Regardless of the method for completing online peer review, this activity is frequently time consuming and frustrating for new online students. Be sure to leave yourself ample time to complete this activity and start on it early. There is a good chance that you will need to consult the Canvas help guide or read through the instructions a second time to get everything right.
When completing a Canvas peer review assignment, use the following steps to upload, return feedback, and view feedback from others:
- Upload your rough draft to the peer review assignment
- Once you are assigned a review, return to the original assignment (where you turned in your own rough draft). The review will appear directly below the icon letting you know you turned in the assignment. Click on the peer review.
- A new window will open that contains your peer's paper. If you click "View Feedback," you can put comments directly on the paper within Canvas using their commenting and highlighting tools. You can also download the paper from this page to comment on and upload it with comments.
- Leave a general comment or feedback in the comment box to the far right of the screen. You can also upload files by attaching them to the general comment stream.
- If you need to navigate back to the assignment, be sure to click on the "peer review" link instead of turning your review in as your assignment. You do not want to go back through the assignment submission process as this will override your original rough draft for your peer reviewer. Instead, be sure to upload all documents as an attachment to a comment.
See this video for more ideas on how to mark your peer’s paper peer review, whether online or face to face