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Peer Review in Writing Groups

Peer Review in Writing Groups published on

This is the post for the week of Monday, January 30, 2017.

54% of employees get their best ideas from talking with colleaguesNotes for Today

  • My Apology: I’m sorry for the delay in getting this week’s post online. Our dog Daisi was 13, and she is very much missed. Thanks for being understanding.

  • Reminder: If you are taking advantage of the grace period, complete the 01/30 to 02/03 Self-Assessment in Canvas by 11:59 PM tonight (Monday, February 6).

  • Better Discussions: Starting this week, most of your discussions in Slack will take place with your Writing Group. That means that conversations will become a lot easier. You will only be chatting with at most 11 people (rather than close to 90). I will indicate your writing group channels as #Team______ in the weekly posts.

  • Extra Credit: This week has opportunities for extra credit in the Weekly Self-Assessment. Complete the optional items for extra points.

Readings for This Week

Crowdsourcing Revision of Major Project Assignment #1

This week, you will spend time with your writing groups getting and giving advice on how to improve your Analysis of Writing in Your Field project. Your previous English classes probably called this process peer review. Several of the readings talk about how peer review works.

In addition to the information in the readings, I want to suggest that you think of this process differently. Imagine that you are crowdsourcing revision of the documents. Each of you brings what knowledge and information you have to the projects. Add what you can. Ask for help where you need it. You know how crowdsourcing works. Bring that idea of working together to make something happen to the projects you are working on.

As a reminder, here are the critical dates for the project:

  • Week of January 30: Research and draft your project.
  • Week of February 6: Share your draft with your writing group, and provide feedback to your group members.
  • Submission Due Date: Wednesday, February 15 at 11:59 PM
  • End of Grace Period: Tuesday, February 21 at 11:59 PM (3-day grace period, excluding weekend + President’s Day holiday)

Activities for This Week

  1. Introduce yourself to your writing group. I set up groups in Canvas and Slack, following the Google Sign-up Document. In Slack, share the professional bio that you posted in #intros with your writing group. Add any comments you’d like to get to know one another beyond sharing your bio. There are two ways to share your bio:
    1. Find your bio in #intros, copy it, and paste it into your #team______ channel.
    2. Find your bio in #intros, follow the instructions to quote a message to get the link, and paste the link into your #team______ channel.

  2. Collaborate to set ground rules for your writing group in your #team______ channel on Slack. The primary work of your writing group is explained in the Writing Groups Overview. You may also collaborate to write some short documents. Your group should make a set of guidelines that covers all of the following:

    • Contact information that group members can use to contact one another outside Slack and Canvas, if desired.
    • Group responsibilities (division of labor) for the project. For instance, do you want a leader? Who is responsible for making sure work is done?
    • Communication policies that account for how the group will deal with scheduling, questions, and absences.
    • Revision crowdsourcing strategies and plans (think about including ideas from this week’s readings).

  3. Share a draft of your Analysis of Writing project in your #team______ channel on Slack.

    • In your message, ask your group to look at anything you are trying to improve. Let them know the kind of advice you need.
    • Add a link to your draft or direct your group members to find the draft in the Analysis of Writing in Your Field discussion in Canvas. Do NOT upload your draft to Slack, as we have to be careful not to go over our storage limit.

  4. Work on the design and phrasing of your Analysis of Writing project. Apply information from the Ten Ways to Improve Your Writing and from the slideshow in the assignment to your project. For instance, pay attention to things like the layout of the columns, how you phrase the information in your table, and the alignment of the information in the columns. You will find more information in the linked resources.

  5. Find info on ethics. If you are focusing on ethics in your table, check out Chapter 9 (9.1–9.6) of Technical Writing by Hamlin, Rubio, and DeSilva. You need to click through to access all the sections of the chapter.

  6. Find info on intercultural and global issues. If you are focusing on intercultural and global issues in your table, check out Practicing Intercultural Communication from Writing Commons.

  7. Update your Participation Log. Add details on your contributions in Slack to your Log to make sure your records are up-to-date.

  8. Complete the Self-Assessment for the week. Download the 02/06 to 2/10 Template and follow the instructions to share details on your work this week. Upload your completed self-assessment to the 02/06 to 2/10 Self-Assessment in Canvas by 11:59 PM on Saturday, 02/011. If you need extra time, take advantage of the grace period, which ends at 11:59 PM on Tuesday, 02/14.

 

Total weekly activity points for 02/06 to 2/10: 10 (with an additional 2 points extra credit)

 

[Image: Detail from Effective Collaboration [INFOGRAPHIC]]
 
Last updated on 6th February, 2017, 12:04 PM

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