Lesson Plan: Constructive Peer Reviews in ENGL390 Objective: Students will learn how to effectively conduct a peer review in the online environment of ENGL390, so that they provide substantive and complete commentary for their peers. Students should be able to provide feedback on crafting an argument, appropriate use of rhetorical appeals, and suggestions for document/sentence construction based on Reader Expectation Theory. Students should be able to produce complete evaluation of peers’ draft papers, consisting of an analysis of each portion of a provided rubric, at least 3 internal comments, and a final summarizing comment on the general paper.
Preliminaries: Before viewing the online lesson, students will have done exercises related to argument construction via the Toulmin Model, the 3 Rhetorical Appeals, and Reader Expectation Theory. In doing so, students should be familiar with the how to identify components of these strategies and how to implement them in writing. Students will have also already completed a draft of their Topic Selection Memo, which is their proposal for the topic which their will pursue for their final paper. This lesson will primarily focus on the mechanics of how to conduct peer review in this class, and it will use the Topic Selection Memo assignment as an example of how to provide feedback. Although students may have conducted peer reviews in the past, the online environment provides an added challenge of how to view, and provide online commentary. Additionally, many students provide feedback by pointing out grammar errors, typos, punctuation problems, etc. rather than considering the arguments, thesis, and organization of a paper. Providing commentary on the latter is much more constructive for students when developing a paper and it’s the preferred method for ENLG390. Students are encouraged to view materials in previous modules for additional guidance on the Toulmin Model, the 3 Rhetorical Appeals, and Reader Expectation Theory.
Materials: Computer w/ Internet, Youtube viewing capabilities, pencil and paper for notes
Time Estimate: Viewing the online lesson plan, and the related materials should take ~10 minutes.
Lesson Outline:
[0:00] – Introduce the tutorial, noting that the purpose is to show students exactly what is expected of them for peer reviews in this class. [1:00] – Discuss major points of peer review: - students should submit a solid, substantive draft on time in order to have the opportunity to participate in the peer review process for credit - students should complete all parts of peer review for full credit - parts include addressing all portions of the rubric, providing 3 internal comments, and a final summarizing comment in the side panel [2:00] – Discuss the mechanics of doing Peer Review Through Canvas - Show the Topic Selection Memo assignment as an example - Note where to find the peer reviews - Highlight the major links on the screen (Show Rubric, internal document, side panel) [3:00] – Going Through the Rubric - Explain each portion of the rubric Context and background, Key Stakeholders, Current Research Plan, Course of Action - Note that students should provide substantive comments for each part - If they can think of other stakeholders, or questions about background, students should comment on this. - If they can think of additional ways to enhance ethos, logos, or pathos, students should also note this. - The major point is that students should identify a small real world audience to submit their proposal to. This audience should be able to affect the change that is being proposed. [6:30] – Making Internal and Side Comments - Internal comments should also be substantive - If a part seems misplaced, or a sentence does not have subject verb adjacency per Reader Expectation Theory, this should be addressed - Students can use the comment, highlight, bold features to make comments - A final summarizing comment should be made as well with a final impression of the paper as a whole [8:00] – Wrap up - Conclude by restating the requirements to be eligible to participate in Peer Review - Note the 3 components of peer review - Note that students should refer to past modules for additional information on strategies (Toulmin, Ethos/Pathos/Logs, Reader Expectation Theory) - Additional information on Topic Selection is posted on the Course Website [10:00] – Conclusion - Mention availability for additional assistance. Method of Assessing the Objective: Students will be assessed based on their performance on peer reviews for the Topic Selection Memo, and all major assignments thereafter. Students receive a grade out of 5 points possible for completing an effective peer review per the provided guidelines. If students lose points on the peer review, the grader can refer them to the Peer Review Tutorial.