Making essay peer reviews work: one win, one loss?

Last Friday and today Monday, I had two in-class "peer review" classes, one for my freshmen and one for my sophomores. Both classes were reviewing drafts of about 800 words. The in-class peer review is one part of the draft review process, including in addition an online written review that students have to do for each other and a conference with me to discuss my reactions to their draft.

So, below is how I set the in-class peer review exchange up (copied from my handout). My personal impression is that this works quite well as long as I avoid some pitfalls. In my Friday freshmen class, I had some groups where the exchange of ideas did not really seem to be working, and I guessed it was due to two problems. After anticipating those, my Monday class went very smoothly.

The first problem you always run into to is people with no drafts finished. On Friday, I asked them to join a group anyway and read and give comments, but I have come to the conclusion that it is better to let them go out of the classroom or do their own work. The pair exchange between two persons with drafts works with a good balance of time and having a third person just does not seem to work logistically. On Monday, that was what I did and all pairs hummed along very smoothly.

Another problem is what to do with an odd number. On Friday, I made a group of three, but the three struggled because they had to read two papers to have a coherent discussion and ended up running out of time in our 70 minute period. On Monday, I decided to fill in the gap and be a partner to ensure all students were in pairs. If you have ideas for making a group of three work, please let me now.

Other problems....students who come in late, students who match up with different levels (usually by asking students to say how long their drafts are and matching up same lengths of drafts, the level gets matched too, but not always.).

Overall, students seem to enjoy their exchanges very much. I allow use of their first language if they feel it is needed, and a few took advantage of that while most groups stayed in English.

2. Peer Review of 1st drafts

The goal is to help you receive some specific ideas for improving your draft as well as give you a chance to practice reading critically and giving constructive feedback.

1) Find a partner who has a draft of about the same length. Sit close in pairs.

If you have no draft, you can read/write quietly or go to the library.

2) Ask Can I write comments on your draft? -> Exchange papers and read.

If the writer allows comments, feel free to annotate with ? or other comments.

3) After both have basically finished reading, discuss one essay first, then the next.

Use 3 steps: 1. Confirm Main Point, 2. Give Positive Feedback, then 3. Give Suggestions

Writer: So...Did you understand my main point?

Reader: Well, I think your main point is... (summarize your understanding briefly)

Writer: Right. What do you think about the draft so far?

Reader: I really like the point about.... (start by giving much positive feedback!)

Writer: Do you have any suggestions?
Reader: First, what's your feeling about your draft? How do you plan to improve it?
Writer: Well...I think the biggest need for change is... (do self-critique first)
Reader: I think those ideas are good. In addition...you could consider adding/changing...
Note: Try to give suggestions about main ideas and evidence, not technical things.

In the Valley of Elah (2007) - Disturbing, but engaging

In the Valley of Elah just came out on DVD in Japan. (Japanese title 告発のとき）
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809805319/info


I thought it was worth watching on two accounts:

1. As a father, this narrative based on a true story made me contemplate the horror of sending my son to war and learning how he is transformed into something else upon return from the battlefield.

2. As a citizen, I was alerted to the possibility that large numbers of troops returning from "liberating Iraq" may need psychological support to readjust. Assuming the story that this movie is based on is true in the way it is implied in the film, the importance of giving not only respect to veterans but also an environment in which they can adequately deal with the psychological issues they may face cannot be underestimated.

I write this knowing nothing of war. I hope I will never have to, but I still have much respect for those who sign up and make sacrifices to defend what they believe in.

A Friday night in Koenji

Out on the town in Koenji with a good friend the other night, we stumbled upon a cozy kushi-age place called Kushiya Bar 串屋バー (info) with a shitamachi feeling and cheap but delicious fried food on skewers. (photos from someone's blog)

On the drinks menu, I found a few things I had never had before. One is the Denki Bran in the picture above, 30% alchohol a mix of brandy, gin, and herbs? served straight in shot glass and famous for its "electrifying" sensation as it goes down. Another was called キンミヤ梅割り a shochu mixed with a plum extract. Both tasted like industrial alchohol and must be an acquired taste.

University of London Institute of Education - a good place for a PhD?

Two of my colleagues are currently doing part-time doctorates in education with the IoE and they invited me to an event where IoE students in Tokyo presented their current research. Professor Paul Dowling was there to answer questions too. I got a chance to ask several people, including Paul, about the process of application and the "tortuous" challenge of getting the disseration done, especially on a part-time basis while teaching full-time.

Most of the advice I had heard before, but it was good to hear it again:
-Make sure you know what your research passion is
-Design a small, realistic project for researching that passion
-Try to find a good supervisor for the research
-Make a solid financing plan
-Be ready to dump your social life and neglect your family (My interpretation)

So, Mark, what's the plan? Decisions, decisions.
-I have many research interests, but what's my research passion? How in the world do you decide that?
-Which school is best for that research area/approach?
-Do I go full time (and break the bank) or go part time (and try to balance job and degree)?
-Do I go to a US program with course requirements (which I kind of feel I need), or a British program which is mainly just the disseration?
-Do I wait until...

Mark

Black Gold - A film about coffee and fair trade

http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/



I picked this up at Tsutaya and felt it was very valuable to watch. I'm not very knowledgeable of the fair trade movement (need to educate myself) and this short 78 minute film helped me get some understanding of the effects of international trade on farmers in developing countries.

But will I make sure to buy Fair Trade Coffee now? Unfortunately, the film was not as compelling as it might have been. As a beginner in the concept of "fair trade" purchases, I found myself confused as to what I was supposed to be persuaded by. It sounds nice, but how exactly does it work...and does it?

Yes, I think I believe that multinational corporations in the US and EU tie up with their government trade offices to maximize profits at the expense of developing countries, basically disregarding the need to set up a system that will help poverty stricken areas of the world gain some stability for minimum needs such as food, water and literacy. Improvements in corporate social responsibility seem needed very much. I imagine those companies see business and charity was different things and try to be as cut-throat in business as they can get away with. It is the way businesses are.

Also, the fact that farms in developed countries are subsidized to a point that developing countries suffer from low international commodity prices seems in need of reform. The WTO seems to be a political tool for powerful countries to impose their will on poorer countries.

However...how does buying a slightly more expense package that says "fair trade coffee" exactly work in terms of helping the farmers' cooperative in Ethiopia that this film portrays? It sounds like a good idea to eliminate the various middlemen that take their cuts, but how does that exactly work? Also, since "fair trade" sounds awefully good to the responsible consumer, many big coffee companies like Starbucks are jumping on the bandwagon and advertising that they serve free trade coffee. Is that working at all? By the way, Starbucks was implicated in the movie in a confusing way--was it contributing to poverty or wealth in Ethiopia?? Not clear to me. I may have missed something since my infant daughter decided to vie for my attention around that part.

Need to get an informative resource about trade and efforts to eradicate poverty in developing countries. I have no doubt that fortunate countries/people need to be doing more to help less fortunate countries/people. The question is what.

Wine and culture on Fridays

One of my colleagues in an office nearby introduced the idea of a wine party to wind down and share teaching ideas on Friday afternoons and I've enjoyed three or four to date.

The interesting thing for me is that these parties have a non-Japanese, English-speaking country crowd-US, British, Aussie mostly. Having been socialized through high school in Japan and mostly hanging out with Japanese persons in college and past jobs, I tend to find it difficult to keep up--in terms of topics of interest, vocabulary, turn-taking speeds, cultural background needed for jokes etc. I always end up feeling like I'm a bystander rather than a participant in the conversation. Very difficult to take the floor and chip in at the pace things go.

But the amount I learn is amazing--books, films, theories I've never heard of, and since I know all members well enough as colleagues and they know (mostly) I'm a native speaker of Japanese with a bicultural background, they don't seem to mind too much when I interrupt to ask dumb questions. Of course, it's not just where I grew up. All of these colleagues are just well-read, well-travelled people.

For example, the other day the conversation turned to the influence of the Jewish vote on US politics and it felt like all the Brits and Aussies at the table knew more about US politics than I did. Also, I'm learning that it is probably not a matter of how much you read/watch as much as how critically and selectively you read/watch, and having a chance to talk with people about what you read/watch.

So, here's to looking forward to more wine on Fridays.

Happy New Year! Goals for 2009--hopefully!

5 Goals for 2009

1. Keep blogging on my Learning Blog! I'm doing this mainly for my own reflection and won't worry too much about quality of content or readability. In general, develop my personal learning environment with my Google tools and Delicious bookmarks.

2. Read with my kids! I hope to keep up an almost daily pace of reading English books with my almost 6 year old son and almost 2 year old daughter. I've gotten a bit inconsistent on this.

3. Run 2 marathon races to keep fit. I'll do the Tokyo Marathon in March, but I want to do another one in the autumn.

4. Develop my research on how "confidence" develops in learning to speak a foreign language and how goal-setting, self-recording/analysis, reflection, and other active learning skills can contribute to that. Write two papers and make two presentations on that--hopefully. Explore PhD programs for this.

5. Get a babysitter so Meg and I can get away from the kids!