Key Words: collaboration, writing, small groups, reports

Abstract

When students do intensive editing and rewriting, they learn a great deal about both content and written expression, but the process can take tremendous amounts of faculty time.  Peer-editing is one way to engage students more actively in the editing process, but there can be a problem that beginning students don't know enough to be able to offer good suggestions to one another.  This article gives general instructions for students on how to be helpful in editing one another's papers.  It also gives help for faculty on ways to prepare specific guidelines so that student-to-student feedback can be productive and constructive.

Subject: None.

Time Required:  15-30 minutes for papers ranging from 2 to 4 pages.

Level of Difficulty: Can be used at high school through college.

Equipment Required:  Handout sheets

Special Supplies:  None

Special skills/background: None.

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Peer-editing of students' papers-student guide
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Students helping other students to edit their papers can be a tremendous benefit to both parties.  You will very likely find that your own writing improves as you notice strengths and weaknesses in other students' writing.  Here are some steps to help you give more effective feedback.

•     When you begin the process, look over the requirements for the writing you will be editing and any specific feedback sheet your teacher may give you. 

•     Read the paper quickly once, making notes and marking spots you did not understand.  It's very useful to retain these first impressions before you get into details.  Note if you lose the thread of the paper at any particular points.  Note places where more explanation or clarification is needed. 

•     Then go back and read in more detail, trying to understand what makes certain parts of the paper readable and clear, while other parts may need work. 

•     Go back again to the requirements and give feedback on how the paper meets each of the criteria.

General guidelines for feedback:

•     Be specific both in your praise and your criticism.

•     Be positive.

•     Focus on how the student can change the paper to improve it.

Remember how it feels when someone else criticizes your work--you can hear the call for changes much better if you feel the other person values your work and is criticizing it with respect, not brutally.  But editorial comments also can be too kind.  It does not help the other person if you don't give any suggestions or if you just say, "Great!"  One of the skills to learn is to trust your instincts; when you don't understand something, ask for clarification!

Consider several levels when editing a paper:

1)  the overall flow and structure,

2)  the specific content and its clarity,

3)  how well it meets the objectives, and

4)  technical issues, including

•     grammar and punctuation,

•     sentence structure,

•     technical terms, and

•     references.

1)  If the overall structure is clear, say so.  If there are a few places where you could not  follow the argument, point them out but remember to point out other places that were clear.  Even if the overall structure is not clear to you, try asking specific questions such as, "What is the major point of this paragraph?" rather than issuing a blanket condemnation like, "This is totally disorganized."

2)  Again with the specific content issues, pick out sentences and paragraphs to commend, if possible.  In your criticisms, ask for explanation and clarification.  For example, "I didn't understand what you meant about the function of the papillary muscle here."  "What is the relationship of this sentence to the one before?"

3)  How well does the writing meet the objectives of the assignment?  Is it at the appropriate level of technicality?  Does it include the right amount of detail?

4)  Technical issues can be tricky; if you do not feel confident about grammar, spelling,  punctuation and sentence structure, you may want to word your comments as questions, like, "Spelling correct?" "Should this be a comma or a semicolon?"  Be especially alert to technical words and whether they are used correctly.  Are there references where appropriate, and are they in the correct form both in the text and the bibliography or references?

One grammatical detail that can greatly strengthen a paper is the use of strong topic sentences.  For example, the sentence, "The authors go on to describe their methods" is weak because the sentence itself does not have content.  A better topic sentence might be, " Electron microscopy was the principal technique used in this study."  The rest of the paragraph should then describe the details of the point raised in the topic sentence. 

If you remember to be positive and focus on specific changes the other student can make, your feedback will likely be very helpful.

PEER-EDITING OF  STUDENT PAPERS-Instructor's Guide
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Do Ahead:  Prepare feedback sheets to guide students in commenting on others' papers.

introduction

When students do intensive editing and rewriting, they learn a great deal about both content and written expression, but the process can take tremendous amounts of faculty time.  Peer-editing is one way to engage students more actively in the editing process, but there can be a  problem that beginning students don't know enough to be able to offer good suggestions to one another.  Beachy (1992) suggests the use of guideline sheets to aid students in their peer-editing.

protocol

This is one protocol that works for peer-editing:

1.  Students are assigned to write a paper and bring two copies of it to class.  They are given the criteria for a good paper, but not in exactly the form to be used in Step Two.  It is best not to hand out in advance the guidelines in exactly the form you will use, because students may then write to the guidelines rather than writing to try to convey their ideas. 

2. In class, students are paired by the instructor; they read and mark up one another's papers, fill out the feedback sheets, and discuss the revisions needed (about 15 minutes for a 2-page paper, 30 minutes for a four-page one).  They hand in the clean copy and use the marked-up copy for revisions.

3.  Each student revises his/her own paper, which is handed in next period with the feedback sheet.

4.  The faculty member evaluates both the revised paper and the quality of the editor's suggestions.  At this point, you can often just use a checklist of the criteria and note "Improved," or "Still needs work," or "Excellent."

what are those guidelines?

Devising the guidelines (feedback sheets) can be very informative. You should spell out your real, underlying criteria for a good paper!  For example, some guideline questions for an introduction were:

•      Does it begin with a statement of broader interest, to draw the reader in?

•      Is the previous literature summarized in some detail?

•      Is the relationship of this experiment to previous work clear?

•      Is the experimental design and the reasoning behind it explained (not all the details, but overall purpose and reasons for choices)?

•      Is there an overall logical flow?

•      Comment on grammar, punctuation, topic sentences, etc.

The results of this process, used repeatedly during the semester, can be impressive.  As one student remarked, "Even if the other person's feedback isn't so valuable, the process of editing someone else's paper helps you write your own paper better."   If the teacher is consistent about using the process, the students take the revisions seriously.  I have found that the writing of students in classes using peer-editing is better-structured and clearer than writing of students in classes that do not, with less effort on my part.

references

Beachy, C.J. 1992.  "Enhancing writing through cooperative peer editing" in N. Davidson and T. Worsham (eds.) Enhancing Thinking through Cooperative Learning.  New York:  Teachers' College Press.  pp. 209-220.