What's the Point of Peer Review?
Now that we've gotten a little practice working with learning peer review, let's talk about why it's such a useful learning tool.
(Check out the Peer Review Guide pt. 1
and pt. 2 in the Week Four and Five modules for even more info).
"Peer Review." When I say those two simple words in my in-person
courses, I watch a collective shudder run through the classroom, as if
I'd just asked them all to watch The Ring video. Believe me, I
get it. I've been in truly terrible peer review groups before. Sometimes
people are too polite and just tell you that your paper is great, and
you'll definitely get an A (and then don't, and you want to tear your
hair out). Or you'll have that one person who tears your work apart like
they want nothing more than to see you weep, but they don't offer
anything beyond insults. And it can be hard to be the person giving
feedback You have this whole essay in front of you, and you might not
know where to begin in terms of giving the writer helpful suggestions
for making their paper better.
English 1110 Peer Review is an elevated form of plain old peer review. In other words, it's designed to provide you with enough structure and direction that everyone gets something out of it. There is a misconception about peer review. A lot of people think it's about getting feedback which takes the place of instructor comments. But that's not what peer review is all about. Yes, you should get a healthy amount of feedback if the students reviewing your draft do a good job.
BUT, what peer review is really about is learning how to break down a text and figure out how to make it better. When you evaluate another student's work using the peer review criteria, you are training yourself to revise your own work more effectively.
As you move on after English 1110.01, you will have to write a lot of
papers for other classes. You probably won't have the advantage of peer
review, and being able to work on the same project throughout the whole
semester, getting instructor feedback along the way. If you have the
experience pinpointing an essay's weakness and looking for ways to
improve it, you'll be able to revise your work using those skills you
developed in our peer review sessions.
Post either one original comment relating to one or more of the questions below OR respond to two other students below.
What worries you about peer review? What have your past experiences with peer review been, good or bad? What does your revision process look like now (how many drafts do you write, do you have anyone look over your essays, etc.)?
 |
| Peer Review Time! |
English 1110 Peer Review is an elevated form of plain old peer review. In other words, it's designed to provide you with enough structure and direction that everyone gets something out of it. There is a misconception about peer review. A lot of people think it's about getting feedback which takes the place of instructor comments. But that's not what peer review is all about. Yes, you should get a healthy amount of feedback if the students reviewing your draft do a good job.
BUT, what peer review is really about is learning how to break down a text and figure out how to make it better. When you evaluate another student's work using the peer review criteria, you are training yourself to revise your own work more effectively.
 |
| This could be you! |
Post either one original comment relating to one or more of the questions below OR respond to two other students below.
What worries you about peer review? What have your past experiences with peer review been, good or bad? What does your revision process look like now (how many drafts do you write, do you have anyone look over your essays, etc.)?
I am not confident on giving others feedbacks on their writing and it worries me if I even make their paper worse. I have proof read or edit my classmates’ paper before in EDUTL 1901 and 1902. It is a great experience since my group member are cooperative and friendly. If it is daily mission or small tasks, I would write and proofread by myself and submit it. If it is big project or important assignment, I would go to the writing center or ask my friend to proofread and edit my paper.
ReplyDeleteI am too nervous about reviewing other people's work, mostly due to the fact that I am a college student and probably not qualified to correct another student's paper.
DeleteI'm also really anxious about critiquing other people's work. My biggest issue is that I am afraid of not providing good feedback. It's one thing to make a fool of yourself in your own writing, but another thing to do so when trying to critique another's work. Luckily, I think all of us are in the same boat and will get better as we continue in this course.
DeleteThe main worry I have for giving peer reviews is if the feedback I have given is detailed enough that the author will actually be able to implement it when re-writing. I also have a hard time starting a peer review as I don't know where to begin when reviewing the paper. In my past experience I have had both good and bad peer reviews. At this moment, I normally approach a friend to peer review my work, and repeat the process until he/she believes that the work is done to the best of my ability.
ReplyDeleteI also find it very hard to peer review papers. Having diverse review criteria is really helpful when choosing where to start. Reading the paper a few times and looking for each of the criteria is a lot easier this way.
DeleteI worried about my part of the peer review is not helpful for others. When I did my first peer review in Edult 1902 class, I thought my partners didn't take my essay seriously. They gave me advice which was useless and inefficient. I thought they just finished the homework.
ReplyDeleteIn this class, I learned how to write a peer review. I can always find problems in my essay after I looked through other's work. I usually have three drafts. I have a general idea to write whatever I like first. Then I will adjust the structure of my essay, edit details, like grammar. After three drafts, I will ask people in the writing center to review my work with me. If we both agree this essay is good to turn in, I will turn in my work.
That is exactly what I am worried about. I am confused about my primary sources and also I am not sure if I am able to give more information to my classmates.
DeleteThe main worry i consider in the peer review is that whether my suggestion to the writer is appropriate or not. Because as a reader, it is hard to think question from a comprehensive perspective. the advice i made might fulfill one shortcomes but meanwhile break the whole balance of the article. I hardly wrote peer review for anyone in the past, but reviewer has to read article thoroughly and understands the point the writer wants to convey. After that, when trying to provide suggestion, it is better to take the details into account.
ReplyDeleteyeah, I agree about the appropriate responses to peers. I feel like I would make the wrong suggestion to the classmate and end up making their paper worse.
DeleteMy main worry about peer reviews are that I will completely destroy someones work. I feel like i'll either give too little advice, or way too harsh criticism that could potentially ruin their grade and their paper. My reviews are more grammar based and the rest is essentially my opinion on what they write. Because I have a hard time thinking objectively, this will be a challenge for me. - Leighton Dennie
ReplyDeleteThe more critical you are the better I think. Even if you feel like it's too harsh, It's better than giving to little. In the end it's going to help them become a better writer.
DeleteNo worries! Being critical is not something bad or will have negative influence on others. As far as I am concerned, your critical thinking might help other classmates have a better way of understanding this topic!
DeleteOhh this is also what I am worried about this peer review process... I have a hard time to follow what someone thinks in their writing. There is still a long way for me to go in peer reviews.
DeleteMy main worry about peer reviews are that I will assume my feedback is very harsh and not care about it. I like to add my ideas in the peer review to help add more perspective but I worry that they will think my feedback is negative and might not give it another look because it is not important enough.
ReplyDeleteThe best way to counteract this is by reinforcing your feedback with an example and explain why. That way, the persons sees that you're not being harsh and you're giving quality feedback. You will give an example so they can see it clearly from your perspective and will more receptive of the review.
DeleteMy worries about peer review was not giving adequate suggestions. It would have been easier if I reviewed the essay on paper because I could've changed words for better vocabulary and changed certain punctuation errors. With that said, I'm not sure that is the point of peer review so instead of edited I just simply reviewed. This experience with peer review was amazing because the feedback I got was very fair and precise. They noticed many of the same things I did, and the way the feedback was given was kind and very easy to understand. When I'm writing an essay, I usually try to get all my ideas onto the paper and separated by paragraph and then from there sift through and make everything more focused and chronological. I always have many people read my essay for ideas, grammatical errors, word choice, and just basic feedback.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest worries about peer review is suggesting something that end up offending the writer. I think it’s really hard to put yourself in their shoes when they’re writing about something they are passionate about. I worry that I’m going to end up suggesting something that either may not make sense to them (being I don’t know how explain what I’m thinking) or may be the complete opposite of what they’re going for. In which I may end up offending them, or I might make their situation even more confusing if they don’t understand what I’m trying to say.
ReplyDeleteI'm just worried that people may take my review for something disrespectful. In the past, I have had people lash out against my review, stating that I didn't know what I was talking about. I honestly think I do a good job of keeping the review as professional as possible, dropping hints for the writer to figure out mistakes by themselves instead of trying to write for them. Typically I'll read through the draft once and then I go through again, commenting my opinion and changes that I recommend. This is the most basic way I find to communicate my thoughts with the writer.
ReplyDeleteI am worried about peer review because I know I am not the greatest at writing. I worry that some of my advice would make the paper worse or not sound as well as it could. I also worry that people will take offense to what I have to say. When I review a paper, I read through it all first then go back through and really look into the text to help see if there are any places to make better, but again it goes back to my confidence in writing which I have none of.
ReplyDeleteI do not have much experience with peer review in an academic setting but I have been in the working world, mostly as a manager, for over 20 years. I have performed countless job performance reviews and have exchanged many ideas in person and by email with my colleagues. Peer review, both giving and receiving, in this class environment is going to be a new challenge for me. When writing, I try to start out with a complete disregard for grammar and sentence structure and just focus on getting my ideas captured. This is probably just like basic note taking but way more free form. I definitely need a proofreader and can appreciate honest feedback
ReplyDeleteMy past peer review experiences have been less than helpful. I’m the type of person who wants a lot of feedback. I usually only received comments that didn’t give instructions on how to make my paper better. When my peers give me many things to fix or ideas to make my paper better, it really improves my writing skills. Sometimes I struggle with ideas, so hearing them from my peers helps my thought process. I hope moving forward that my peers will be able to give good, honest feedback for my project.
ReplyDeleteWhat worries me about peer review is that I won’t get enough or effective feedback. I usually have multiple drafts one or two before peer review and one or two after. Having good peer review has helped me greatly in the past and I have experienced not so good peer review, where it has affected my grade. Peer review gives a different mind and ideas and have definitely gained me points on essays when I can adjust my papers after hearing ideas that I wouldn’t have thought of or a section that some others might find harder to understand. Most of my experiences in the past with peer review have gone well and hopefully that continues.
ReplyDeleteWhile peer reviewing I always worry that the feedback I receive will not be useful in actually making revisions to my paper. I also worry that the feedback I give to others isn’t useful. My past experiences with peer reviewing have been okay, nothing too bad. I look forward to learning more about how to effectively help others (and myself) improve our writing.
ReplyDeleteWhen ever I do a peer review, I always worry that my feedback/review is not good enough and will not help the original author. I always feel like I am not qualified to be giving advice on how to improve their writing. I don't remember doing too much peer review in high school which most likely means that if we did any it wasn’t very good. I wish we did do more of it though because I can definitely see how it can be beneficial to have multiple people giving suggestions. My revision process will become stronger now that we are using peer review because I will have a better idea of what other people would like to see in my writings.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you mean about the feedback not being good enough. When it comes to peer reviews. Something that always helped me with peer reviews is understanding that even if it doesn't help the individual on that specific paper, it could help them down the road whenever other assignments are due. Thinking like that helps take some of the pressure off.
DeleteMy only worry when others do a peer review is that they will not be critical enough because they do not want to hurt the writer's feelings. However, I find that this is the best and most constructive type of peer review, as long as they are not being rude in their feedback. For my revision process, I generally start by constructing a psuedo-outline of what I am about to. I don't like being too rigid because I feel like it interrupts my flow when writing. Then ill make my rough-draft, and then my final.
ReplyDeleteThis feels like a effective process to write a review. Generally I would try to figure out how the writer is writing his passage first, and then follow the rubrics of peer review to give advice step by step. The structure of peer review is clear so we don't need to worry about that.
DeleteMy main worry when I am peer reviewing is that I will give advice that contradicts what they are aiming for, as two people can have different ideas about a single subject, or that I will come off as pushy. On the other hand, I feel as though if I am not assertive enough when peer reviewing, there's no point for me to review the work in the first place. My main goal is to peer review at a healthy medium, where I can still give good advice without changing the author's own intentions.
ReplyDeleteI am very worried that if my writing is not well written， so I will be singled out for many problems, which will be very embarrassing for me.But I still think this is a necessary job, because it can make my article better under the advice of others. Of course, we can also improve our ability to find problems by commenting on others' articles, so that we can avoid many mistakes when writing our own articles.
ReplyDeleteThe main worry I consider in the peer review is whether my views and understanding of the problem are in line with the author's. Because one of the two suggestions I received during our peer review was the opposite of what I thought about the article. As readers, our understanding of the object of study is often not as thorough as that of the author. I am afraid that my suggestions are unfounded and interfere with the author's thinking.I think in the next writing, I will communicate with others before I start writing, to get as comprehensive guidance as possible before I take action. This will also deepen my thinking about the problem and enrich my perspective on the problem. It will enable me to better understand and not be disturbed when I receive other people's suggestions.
ReplyDeleteHi, Ziyi. In my view, once we take much time to analyze other's work, we can understand his topic and thoughts. Therefore, don't afraid that. I believe we can provide a constructive suggestion.
DeleteI'm not sure that my comments and advice will be consistently helpful. I want to provide helpful feedback, but I may not have the most experienced background to do so. In the past I have I have not been a big fan of peer reviewing. Most of the peer review I received in highschool was just mimicry of what the teacher had said about the most common issues. I am hopeful that I will receive better advice this time around. I usually end up writing 3 versions of papers, with at least the last one being looked over by another pair of eyes.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you, even it freaks me out because of the responsibility it has on me. This way it helps us to find improvements in our paper which in turn would be a good life skill as we write research papers ( considering one is doing research).
DeleteMy main worry about peer reviewing is if the author understands clearly what I am trying to express to them and also if I am explaining it correctly to them. I peer reviewed an online symposium last semester and I thought I did quite well explaining what was wrong with it and if it could be more detailed. I usually have some of my friends look over my essays as I work through it, but I could definitely get it checked at the writing center as well for more professional help I suppose.
ReplyDeleteWriting center is a great resource on campus, it helps you improve as well as when you give your peers feedback , they will find it useful too. Last semester I used the help of writing center for my physics lab report and the knowledge I gained was so helpful to me in later labs that we did throughout the semester.
DeletePeer review can be daunting for me. I want to give the best feedback I can give on someone's paper, but I don't want to overlook anything or be too critical. Doing a strong peer review requires lots of patience and attention. That is why I think I have had so many varied experiences with doing peer reviews. In regard to my own personal drafts, I am always revising my work until I turn it in. I am someone who tries to look for as many ways as possible to improve their work, and I strive to do that from the brainstorming phase to the final product.
ReplyDeleteI am often worried if my review is helpful and my expressions are polite while doing peer review. In previous writing class, I have wrote reviews for others and also received feedback. I found it was not as difficult as I thought. If you have read the passage carefully and patiently, your suggestions are usually helpful. Every time I read others' reviews, I can realize shortcomings of my writings and make and improvement.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. If we take much time to analyze other's work, we can provide a helpful suggestions.
DeleteWhat I am most worried about is being too polite. I am generally a very nice person and for some reason when I am reading someone's paper I always want to just compliment them on everything to boost their confidence and make them feel good. I need to get into my head that the critiques and suggestions I give people will help them way more than just telling someone that they did a good job if there are things to improve on.
ReplyDeleteI have personally struggled in the past with not having a proper revision process. High school papers seemed easy enough, and I did well enough, to never fully revise papers before turning them in. College has already woken me up that I need to begin a proper revision process to be more successful. This is where I struggle. Determining where to start with a proper revision process that works and helps to improve my work before submitting it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, it is actually the very first time for me to make a peer review officially. Somehow I feel it is not that embarrassed for me to provide suggestion to other's works. However, thing that I concern the most is whether the suggestion I give can actually help to improve one's work. Though I know that it is author's business to decided if he or she need to accept your suggestion or not, I feel it is still my duty to provide as much useful information as I can. I think it is a good practice for me to value other's work because it can help me to find problem that exist in my current work. I did take some of suggestions that I found really good to improve my paper.
ReplyDeleteFrom April Tan
My biggest worry when it comes to peer review, is that I will not get the honest feedback and critiques that I need to succeed. Yes, my peers may be honest with me to a certain extent, but it is illogical to think that their standards are at the same level as my professor. I just worry that even if they do review my work and try their best to help, it will still be insufficient compared to what my professor could offer/what they are looking for.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, sometimes, some people may not talk the true feedbacks and criticizes. On the other hand, I'm trying to enhance my skill of peer review. Before the course, I didn't know how to appropriately commen other's work.
ReplyDeleteWhen i first heard about the peer review, i was worried about whether my opinion is correct or what suggestion should i give them. It is quiet fine for me to just give the suggestion, but I feel I don't have the right to assess other's article. After i read this, i start understand that the main purpose doing this peer review is not just get the feedback from other student, but also learn how to analyze my own article and try to make it better. I do have some bad experience of peer review at my high school. People just laughed at other's article and didn't give their suggestion conscientiously. I believe I can get a better peer review this time.
ReplyDeleteEvery time when I do the peer review, I always worried about whether I misunderstand the author’s article content so that I will give the wrong and inefficient peer review. In the previous peer review work, I did not do a good job, since I did not try to think of deeper understanding of an article before, so the peer review I done was not so good. I just basically point out what I concerned, and give some basic suggestions. Now, I am trying to understand the main idea of an article first, and give them feedback according to article criteria and give the advices at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI’m always confused about pointing out someone’s disadvantages in their work, because I really don’t know how to provide them valuable advise in a euphemistic way. Sometimes I even don’t know how can I offer suggestions to improve the essay, because I will follow the logic of the author and can’t find any deficiency such as disorder or misnomer. This is the first time I write a peer review, so I might not have such experience to give some useful suggestions to my classmate. However, I will try my best to give help to them because it’s also a good way to challenge my for my writing.
ReplyDeleteThe most confused part for me is to identify other students' topic and understand author's expression, because I cannot match the main idea quickly. I must read the whole article for many times and compare it with question requirements seriously. I never have an experience to evaluate other students's article, so this is a challenge for me and I need to work on it patiently. I think this is an opportunity for me to learn other students's writing skills and improve myself at the same time. Thus, I will follow the requirements specifically and figure out other's advantages, and use what I learned in my current articles.
ReplyDeleteI have taken multiple courses at Ohio State that required 3 to 5 page final analysis papers, and both included a peer review element. They had very different formats, but both were surprisingly beneficial. The first was online and we were randomly assigned each other’s papers, with the instruction to write a short paragraph and provide edited comments if possible. It was helpful to get in the mindset of a reader and realize how few assumptions I made when I read something I hadn’t written. I am now able to watch for places where my writing is insufficiently specific. The second involved presenting our paper in discussion format to the class, with the goal of identifying how well our arguments were built.
ReplyDeleteI now take elements of both of these experiences into my editing process. For particularly long or persuasive essays, i explain my work to a peer to find weak points in my evidence. I also read my work aloud to find grammar and even spelling errors, they jump off the page when the eye is trained on each word for speech. I usually write 2 drafts for short pieces, the second is generally simply a grammar and wording review I like to call “Is this even English?” This said, anything longer than 4 pages gets 4 drafts as a rule. Because I do a lot of position and argumentative writing, I like to make several passes over increasingly small details of the work. I’m excited to use have a detailed oriented piece of writing for this course.