Lehigh University TESOL Conference Presentation, March 7, 2012

1. Lehigh University TESOL Conference
Ms. Candice Quiñones
March 7, 2012

2. Overview

 Research: Peer Editing, Cooperative Learning
 Objective: Expert Editors
 Creating Expert Editors
 Possible Adaptations
 Workshop

3. Research: Peer Editing

 “Several studies have found peer editing to be at
least as effective as teacher editing”(Topping & Ehly
119)
 Peer assessment:
 …involves increased time on task:
thinking, comparing, contrasting, and communicating”
(Topping 254).
 “…makes available swifter feedback in greater
quantity” (Topping 255).

4. Research: Cooperative
Learning

 Cooperative Learning
 “The instructional use of small groups in which
students work together to maximize their own and
each other’s learning”(Johnson & Johnson 73).

5. Cooperative Learning

 Three types:
 Formal Cooperative Learning
 Informal Cooperative Learning
 Cooperative Base Groups*
*I use mainly cooperative base groups.
Source: Johnson & Johnson

6. Cooperative Learning

 Things that make it work:
 Positive interdependence
 Individual accountability
 Face-to-face interaction promoting each other
 Appropriate use of social skills
 Periodic processing of how to improve group
effectiveness
Source: Johnson & Johnson

7. Objective: Expert
Editors

My goals:
 To create a way to actively engage my students in
their peer editing groups
 Teach them to peer edit more effectively
 Help them become better self-editors in the process

8. Creating Expert Editors

Some key elements to expert editing:
 Be familiar with the assignment content
 Focus on one thing at a time
 Keep track of “favorite errors”
 Look at a variety of versions
 Seek feedback from others

9. Facilitating Expert
Editing Groups

 Stability – Group members should not change
 Group Size
 3-5 students
 Group Roles
 Create specific roles and descriptions for each role
 Provide materials and resources to assist with roles
 Rotation of Roles
 Create a schedule that rotates the roles on a regular
basis.

10. How It Works: Groups

ENGL 3 & 5 Classes
 Currently: 16 students
 Number of Groups: 4
 Members per Group: 4
 Total number of Roles: 4
 Type of Group: Cooperative Base Groups
 These groups are assigned in the beginning of the
semester and will not change.

11. How It Works: Roles

 Current # of Roles: 4
 Organization Guru
 Content Editor
 Flow Master
 Mechanic
 Adaptations:
 For groups of 3, unite Organization and Flow into
one role.
 For groups of 5, split the mechanic’s role.

12. How It Works: Rotation

 During the semester, there are 4 major
assignments.
 Each student is assigned/choses one role per
assignment.
 The goal is to have performed each role by the end
of the semester.
 Adaptations:
 Use Formal Cooperative Groups instead of Cooperative
Base groups.
 You will have to determine the time period for which each
student will perform each role.

13. How It Works: In Class

 First, an overview and explanation of each role’s
task is given and the assignment is discussed.
 Then, students are assigned to each role’s task.
 Provide a handout with a “checklist” and list of
resources for each role.
 In groups, students exchange papers and review
their peer’s work from only their role’s perspective.
 They are also to perform their role for their own
paper.

14. How It Works: Beyond

 Peer-editing may take place several times during
the writing and revision process of a paper.
 Students are also encouraged to continue their roles
using an online forum for peer editing.

15. How It Works:
Assessment

 Students are graded individually for their
papers, but they are required to turn in all drafts.
 This evidence of prewriting and revision is factored
into the final grade (5%).
 Adaptations:
 Grade individual and group efforts (giving and
receiving feedback).
 Test them on the roles.

16. Your Turn

Prepare to be grouped, given an explanation of the assignment
and roles, assigned roles, and provided with samples of student
writing to evaluate.

17. The Assignment

 The examples provided were drafts of an analytical
essay about territorial behavior at Lehigh.
 The points were to be based/selected from an essay
they were assigned to read
 Reading: “Territorial Behavior” by Desmond Morris.
 Purpose: to analyze Lehigh based on what the
reading text explained.
 (The purpose is not to validate Morris’s thesis.)

18. Roles

 Organization Guru
 Content Editor
 Flow Master
 Mechanic

19. Organization Guru
 to structure:
The key question here relates
 Does the essay have a recognizable structure
that is logically organized?
 Is there a recognizable introduction?
 Does the essay have a thesis?
 Are the body paragraphs organized in the order
specified by the thesis?
 Do the sentences within the paragraphs have a
logical arrangement?
 Is there a conclusion?

20. Content Editor

 Does the essay fulfill the prescribed requirements
for that type of writing? Is it on topic? (Tip: Check
the assignment.)
 I.E. If the assignment was to write an analysis,
does it analyze something?
 If the assignment required you to do research
and use references, are references included?

21. Content Editor (Cont.)

 Once you have determined that the essay is on
topic, ask these questions:
 Does the introduction have a good hook and
thesis?
 Are the body paragraphs limited to just one
topic?
 Are there enough details in the body paragraphs?
 Does the author revisit the main points from the
thesis in the conclusion?

22. Flow Master

 The main things to consider with flow or fluency
are:
 Does the writer transition well between
sentences, paragraphs and ideas?
 Do they use proper transition words where
necessary?
 Can you read smoothly without having to stop or
go back for clarification?
 Do they tie their ideas together smoothly?

23. Mechanic (in general)

 The key to this is knowing proper grammar and
punctuation rules:
 Read sentence by sentence.
 Check individually for:
 Spelling, capitalization, punctuation, verb
tenses, subject-verb agreement, parallelism, article
use, pronoun references, ambiguous or incorrect word
choice and word order (among other things)
 You will also be in charge of checking citations to
see that they are done properly

24. Practice Time

Please let me know if you have any questions.

25. References

Johnson, David W. and Roger T. Johnson. “Making
Cooperative Learning Work.” Theory into Practice 38.2
(1999): 67-73. JSTOR. Web. 5 March 2012.
Topping, Keith J., and Steward W. Ehly. “Peer Assisted
Learning: A Framework for Consultation.” Journal of
Educational and Psychological Consultation 12.2 (2001):
113-132. Google Scholar. Web. 6 March 2012.
Topping, Keith. “Peer Assessment between Students in
Colleges and Universities.” Review of Educational
Research 68.3 (1998): 249-276. JSTOR. Web. 5 March
2012.

26. Presenter Information
Candice Quiñones, ESL Lecturer at Lehigh University
Email: cjq208@lehigh.edu
