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: 01/12/12

Due dates:

  • 01/13/12 (plus 1 day): Submit your First Draft

  • 01/15/12 (plus 1 day): Review the First Drafts of 3 peers

  • 01/17/12 (plus 1 day): Submit your Final Version

  • 01/17/12: Submit your Back Reviews

    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. First, you will submit a (dummy) First Draft of a paper. Second, you and your peers will engage in Peer Review, where everyone will provide feedback about how to improve the First Draft of others. Third, you will use this feedback to revise your First Draft, to produce a Final Version. Fourth, you will submit Back Reviews to evaluate the feedback you received.

    I. First Draft

    Using SWoRD, submit a dummy file (in whatever file format you plan to really use), representing what would normally be the first draft of an assigned paper. For this tutorial exercise, 1) your paper should just say pretend that you are the author of the NY Times SIRI article linked to on the syllabus, 2) assume that you wrote the NY Times article to focus on the following three points:

  • Main question: Pick a question and present both sides of the story.

  • Argumentation: A critical analysis of the question, presenting supporting and opposing opionions.

  • Implications: A discussion of the social implications of the computing technology being discussed.

    II. 3 Peer Reviews

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

    After reading and evaluating your peers' papers (in this case they will all be the same, namely the NY Times article), 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. Final Version

    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. For this practice exercise, just submit another dummy document saying pretend this is a revision.

    IV. Back Reviews

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