In my Socialization course I break up the term paper into 3 subtopics and
have students peer review each other's papers for each of these "interim"
assignments. They choose their partners, and only very occasionally is there
someone who doesn't manage to find a partner for review. They get a grade of
1-5 for peer reviewing, based on the seriousness with which they took their
role (and rarely have to give less than 5 points) -- they have to peer
review someone else's at least once in the course, and have each of their 3
interims reviewed. Usually students exchange papers so they do the peer
reviewing 3 times even though only once is required. I hand out guidelines
for the peer review (which I can fax you from the office--but not until I
get back in about 2 weeks), a sample peer review form with actual questions
on it, and guidelines for responding to the peer review (with actual
questions on it about how they made use of the peer review). They submit
their first draft (or at least an earlier draft than the final assignment),
the peer review comments (which sometimes are on the first draft--many
students type in changes to an electronic copy, and save the changes as
visible), their response to the peer reviewer, and a final copy of the
assignment revised as a response to the peer reviewer. I give a certain
number of points for each interim assignment, as well as doing the peer
review, and then a certain amount of points for the final paper. I grade
each interim at least 2 weeks before the next interim is due, so they get a
sense of my feedback, and sometimes that includes comments on the peer
review process (that was excellent, you didn't incorporate your peer
reviewer's comments, your peer reviewer didn't catch this but...). I do not
require a peer review for the final paper when they put the whole paper
together, just because it is usually in the last 2-3 weeks of class and
students are overburdened by then. Some choose to do it anyway. After each
interim part of the final paper has been reviewed, the task of putting the
final paper together is incorporating all of the comments and suggested
revisions I've made, after the peer reviewing, eliminating overlap,
sometimes adding an intro and conclusions.The process works well, despite
initial grumbling, but it is in a "writing intensive" course so they are
expected to work on all aspects of writing.
Harriet
--
Harriet Hartman, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Rowan University
201 Mullica Hill Road
Glassboro, NJ 08028
(856) 256-4500 x3787
Fax (856) 256-5610
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
