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Destination: Peer Response
Foundation
Peer response is the core
of creating a writing community and taking advantage of the powerful
learning potential of what Kenneth Bruffee calls, "the community
of knowledgeable peers" and what Fred Kemp has described as the
"writing feedback loop." Feedback on writing is essential
for students to grow and learn as writers. Through peer response, they see
the work of others and can compare their own performance to that of
their peers. In addition, peer response calls on students to apply
their knowledge as they analyze the writing of their peers.
If you have used peer response
in your traditional classroom, you will experience these differences
in the computer classroom setting:
- Peer response tends
to be non-verbal. Students do not sit in groups and talk about their
writing; instead, students read and write their response silently
before the computer screen. For many, this loss of the verbal--of
voice and conversation--is a significant loss. However, the network
offers distinct advantages as well, so you will find that a trade-off
occurs in this different environment.
- Peer response, especially
at first, will tend to take longer than in a computer classroom.
The technology takes more time, but you will also find that students
(with guidance) tend to provide longer responses when they type
them into a computer. With practice, students become quicker at
doing peer response in this environment.
- Drafts posted in a network
make the issue of distribution a non-factor--any student's essay
is accessible to any other student in the class for peer response.
In a computer setting, students don't have to take turns or wait
until a peer is through with a draft to do their own peer response.
In fact, multiple people could be doing peer response to the same
text at the same time.
- The network also makes
the problem of students without their drafts less of a catastrophe.
Any students or groups missing drafts could still do their full
allotment of peer response by accessing the essays of other class
members via the network.
- Peer responders via
computers also experience a greater sense of objectivity as they
respond. Instead of talking to or before their peer--and even looking
at them face-to-face--students are typing before a computer screen.
As a result, students tend to feel freer to give more honest and
direct feedback.
- If peer response is
done in a web-based program, students can even do peer response
out of class for homework. Often students work at different rates
doing peer response, and this added possibility of out-of-class
work gives more flexibility to the students and the teacher.
- In addition, students
can view the peer responses done to other essays by their peers.
This may seem inappropriate, but sharing of text is what the network
is all about. It is also easy for students to review the peer response
given to their own writing--as many times as they wish. (see Sharing
text)
I have found that in a
networked setting it is important to establish a consistent way of
doing peer response and stick to that procedure for each round of
peer responding. Students will gradually get better and faster at
doing the peer response in this way.
Practice
The Elements of Peer Response
Peer response consists
of different pieces or elements, and depending on which way you plan
to use the technology, it will influence the interaction of these elements.
- A network location
for saving and viewing peer essays
- Instructor-provided
peer response prompts
- The tool which peer
responders use to type their peer response
- How students "send"
their peer response to the author
- How students read
the responses done on their writing
Because the permutations
for how you handle these different elements in different programs are
so numerous, the possible ways of doing peer response are almost endless.
However, these basic elements remain consistent and can help you as
you determine your method of doing peer response. Below are instructions
for onw way of doing peer response that I have found that works and
works easily.
Instructions for Doing
Peer Response Using a Bulletin Board
1) Establish a Bulletin
Board where your students can post their essays (either a stand-alone
bulletin board or one within
a full course platform).
2) Create a handout for
your students with instructions for how to post messages to the bulletin
board. Also, include the particular peer response questions you want
students to follow as they address each peer essay.
3) Your instruction sheet
should also setup groups and determine how many peer responses students
should do. I recommend that you assign students to groups of from
five to seven and that you have them do three peer responses (with
a fourth being possible for extra-credit) . I also recommend that
you make each author responsible for having three peer responses done
to their own essay. In this way, it encourages students to turn in
work on time and promotes a more even distribution of peer response.
4) On the day when you
will do peer response, hand students the instruction sheet as they
enter the room and encourage them to get started right away. You will
need to walk the room and help students copy and paste their essays
into the Discussion Board. Then, you will need to walk the room and
make sure each student is beginning to reply to their peers' essays
ok. Once everyone is on task, you can do a few peer responses too.
5) As students read the
essay posts of their peers, when they click REPLY the original text
of the message, in most cases, is included in the reply message box.
Having the copy of the essay in the REPLY textbox is useful as students
are answering their peer responses, but encourage students to delete
the original message when they send their reply. All replies are automatically
associated with the original essay, so the author only has to read
the replies to his or her own essay to see the peer responses.
6) Although this adds time,
you could also assign what I call an "Author's Response."
In the author's response, students make comprehensive statements about
the peer responses they received and about their own view of their
essay. I instruct my students not to do an author's response until
they have at least three peer responses. Recommended questions: 1)
What perceptions about your own essay were confirmed? 2) What new
perspectives did you gain on your essay? 3) What will you work on
when you revise this essay?
Time: Three responses in
a 75 minute class. Two in a 50 minute class (assign the third for
homework).
Instructions in
other settings: Instructions
in Daedalus
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