CS1590: Practice Formal Writing and Revision Assignment (using SWoRD)

Submit and Revise a Paper; Provide Feedback on Papers and Reviews written by your Peers

Assigned: 01/08/13

Due dates:

  • 01/10 (plus 1 day late penalty): Submit your First Draft

  • 01/14 (plus 1 day late penalty): Review the First Drafts of 3 peers

  • 01/16: Submit your Back Reviews

  • 01/16 (plus 1 day late penalty): Submit your Final Version

    Grading: This assignment will contribute towards your class participation grade in a pass/fail manner.

    Introduction

    The goal of this exercise is to practice using the SWoRD system, where I have set up a practice assignment with two parts: P1D1 (paper 1, draft 1), and P1D2 (paper 1, draft2). For P1D1, you will first submit a First Draft of a (dummy) paper. Second, you and your peers will engage in Peer Review, where everyone will provide feedback about the First Draft of others. Third, you will submit Back Reviews to evaluate the feedback you received. Finally, for P1D2, you will use this feedback to revise your First Draft, to produce a Final Version.

    I. First Draft (P1D1)

    Using SWoRD, submit a two paragraph paper in whatever file format you plan to use for the rest of the course. Your first paragraph should describe your technical background in computer science (courses taken, relevant employment etc.), while your second paragraph should explain why you wanted to take this course (and anything else you would like to share about yourself).

    II. 3 Peer Reviews (P1D1)

    Access the 3 First Draft papers assigned to you for peer reviewing, using SWoRD.

    After reading and evaluating your peers' papers, use SWoRD to submit your 3 peer reviews. Your peer reviews will consist of textual comments as well as numerical ratings, with respect to particular grading rubrics. Each textual comment should focus on a single idea, with the most important comments given first.

    Tips: Peer reviewing involves providing constructive feedback on your peers' First Drafts, which your peers will then use to revise (and hopefully improve) their papers. Generating feedback for others should also help you improve your general writing skills. Things to consider when peer reviewing:

  • Be constructive: Give particular ideas for how to improve the paper. Don't just complain about a problem; give some ideas for how to fix it.

  • Be specific: Be precise about where particular problems occur, and give exact examples of problems.

    III. Back Reviews (P1D1)

    Finally, use SWoRD to submit Back Reviews (evaluations of the helpfulness of the peer reviews you received).

    IV. Final Version (P1D2)

    Access the peer reviews of your First Draft, using SWoRD.

    Revise your First Draft based on the peer feedback, then use SWoRD to submit your Final Version.