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changinggears
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« on: November 20, 2009, 05:52:01 PM » |
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I use peer review on a very regular basis in my comp. classes. Usually, it is fairly informal. For the research essay, I have developed a more formal, blind review of the essays that includes a questionnaire that the reviewer fills out. I initially thought about also having the reviewer assign the rough draft an assessment of an "A," "B," "C," or "D," with each grade having a defined set of standards. However, now I am second-guessing this part of the peer review. I am not sure if freshman have the ability to be objective enough about a peer's essay to assign a legitimate grade. I guess I'm afraid that if they inflate the grades, then the author will concentrate on the grade and ignore the answers to the questionnaire. Then, if I assign a lower grade to the final draft, they may argue that their peers gave them a higher grade on the rough draft, how can they get a lower grade after fixing two sentences, etc. etc. etc. At the same time, I have used peer evaluations in other situations, specifically speech classes, and found that oftentimes peers are harder on their classmates than I might have been. Does anyone have experience with having peers assign a grade to a rough draft (simply to represent how much revision the essay still needs)? Does it work or will I be painting myself into a corner?
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Quote from conjugate:
I am impressed at the level of self-awareness you show in describing your posts as "digital diarrhea," however.
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new_bus_prof
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« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2009, 06:59:20 PM » |
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Don't.
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missemily
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« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2009, 08:26:30 PM » |
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No good came come of having students grade their peers' drafts.
For that matter, I don't put a grade on drafts myself. ("But I fixed everything you said was wrong with it! Why didn't you give me an A?")
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jacaranda_
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« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2009, 08:51:55 PM » |
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I think you did a good job of answering your own question. There is a reason you are the teacher.
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systeme_d_
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« Reply #4 on: November 20, 2009, 09:17:47 PM » |
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I don't grade drafts, and don't ask students to assign grades to them, but I do grade the peer reviews themselves.
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Systeme_D is right. <rah rah RESEARCH!> |
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hipgeek
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« Reply #5 on: November 20, 2009, 09:33:56 PM » |
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Don't.
I agree. I can't see any way in which this would be a good idea. I also don't grade drafts. |
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I have no tolerance for swinish behavior, except from actual swine.
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fishbrains
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« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2009, 09:35:06 AM » |
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This is a really, really bad idea.
I love peer reviews, but I have the students answer specific questions--preferably at the "yes" or "no" level--instead of having them provide subjective feedback that is quite often wrong or misleading. A peer review question might go as follows: "A title in a formal essay should generally have a creative title followed by a colon followed by a creative title. Here is an example: Hopping on the Blue Bus: An Analysis of The Doors' "The End". Is the title creative and appropriate? _______ Whether yes or no, provide an alternative title for this essay."
This way the students aren't "grading" the draft but answering specific questions about the draft, and they are probably thinking about their own draft when answering the questions (as in "Dang-it-all, I don't have a title like this on my own draft!"). Many students do not feel comfortable grading, but they will answer specific questions--especially for a grade.
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"My face is going green behind the mask . . ." ~ Peter Shaffer's Equus
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changinggears
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« Reply #7 on: November 21, 2009, 10:12:42 AM » |
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The responses have verified my suspicions. As I said, I am using the type of feedback questionnaire that many of you say you use with the same goals in mind. My initial thoughts on the grading aspect was that it might give students a first-hand experience with the difficulty of assigning a grade to a piece of writing when you have to take so many criteria into consideration. I suppose I was hoping against hope that this could be done. Alas, you have confirmed my doubts and dashed my hopes. But thanks for the feedback.
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Quote from conjugate:
I am impressed at the level of self-awareness you show in describing your posts as "digital diarrhea," however.
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fishbrains
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« Reply #8 on: November 21, 2009, 12:19:58 PM » |
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Alas, you have confirmed my doubts and dashed my hopes.
It's just another service we offer. :) |
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"My face is going green behind the mask . . ." ~ Peter Shaffer's Equus
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present_mirth
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« Reply #9 on: November 21, 2009, 03:10:03 PM » |
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Do you have any sample essays on file from previous semesters? I agree that it's a bad idea to ask students to grade their peers' drafts, but I don't see a problem with asking them to pretend-grade work from a different class, and that might be a useful way to get them to think about grading criteria in the ways that you want them to.
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changinggears
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« Reply #10 on: November 21, 2009, 06:12:01 PM » |
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Do you have any sample essays on file from previous semesters? I agree that it's a bad idea to ask students to grade their peers' drafts, but I don't see a problem with asking them to pretend-grade work from a different class, and that might be a useful way to get them to think about grading criteria in the ways that you want them to.
Unfortunately, no. This is the first semester that I have taught a combo lit./comp. course, so I don't have anything that fits the mold of what I want them to do for this class, i.e., academic writing that engages scholarly secondary sources while prsenting a student-generated thesis. But, I have just such a mock grading assignment on the agenda for next semester and I believe I will have quite a few examples of how not to do it for them to try and slog through after this semester. But not so many "A" samples (if any). |
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Quote from conjugate:
I am impressed at the level of self-awareness you show in describing your posts as "digital diarrhea," however.
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ianelay
Junior member
Posts: 90
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« Reply #11 on: November 23, 2009, 03:27:36 PM » |
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Do you have any sample essays on file from previous semesters? I agree that it's a bad idea to ask students to grade their peers' drafts, but I don't see a problem with asking them to pretend-grade work from a different class, and that might be a useful way to get them to think about grading criteria in the ways that you want them to.
Unfortunately, no. This is the first semester that I have taught a combo lit./comp. course, so I don't have anything that fits the mold of what I want them to do for this class, i.e., academic writing that engages scholarly secondary sources while prsenting a student-generated thesis. But, I have just such a mock grading assignment on the agenda for next semester and I believe I will have quite a few examples of how not to do it for them to try and slog through after this semester. But not so many "A" samples (if any). Have you heard of Calibrated Peer Review? It might work for what you originally envisioned. http://cpr.molsci.ucla.edu/I've not tried it myself, but it looks great. You have to set up test essays for the students to review, so that the student's grading ability can be calibrated. Then the student gets randomly assigned essays from other classmates, and then the student must review his/her own essay. The student gets a mark based on the adjusted peer review mark AND on the quality of his/her own reviews. |
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