ERIC Number: EJ869333
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1812-9129
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Available Date: N/A
Improving Writing with a PAL: Harnessing the Power of Peer Assisted Learning with the Reader's Assessment Rubrics
McLeod, Stephen G.; Brown, Gavin C.; McDaniels, Preselfannie W.; Sledge, Lawrence
International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, v20 n3 p488-502 2008
In response to widespread concern that many American students do not write well enough to meet the requirements of higher education and the workplace, the College Board's National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges has called for a writing revolution. A key component of this revolution is evaluation, with particular emphasis on the need to align writing standards, writing instruction, and writing assessment. Teachers of writing want to provide their students with the kind of quality feedback that coaches and personal trainers provide their clients, but large classes and heavy teaching loads often frustrate their intention. Peer assessment can alleviate this problem. In fact, research indicates that when students are given valid and reliable assessment instruments to guide the process, feedback from peers can be as effective as--or more effective than--feedback from professors. As a direct response to the Commission's call for curricular alignment, Jackson State University has launched the Reader's Assessment Project, a project that seeks to harness the power of Peer Assisted Learning by developing and applying a series of analytic Peer Assessment rubrics for specific rhetorical modes. While analytic rubrics are useful in identifying broad areas for improvement in student writing, such rubrics are sometimes difficult to use because they address general qualities of effective writing without reference to the way those qualities operate in specific rhetorical modes, such as comparison/contrast or process. Analytic scoring also tends to be time-consuming. The Reader's Assessment Project at Jackson State University seeks to overcome these drawbacks by developing mode-specific analytic instruments that are aligned with the reading process. In this article, members of the Reader's Assessment team review the relevant literature, outline the conceptual framework and methodology of the project, and explain how they have harnessed the power of Peer Assisted Learning with the Reader's Assessment rubrics through a strategy that they call CARE (creating a reassuring environment). [Note: The publication year (2009) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct publication year is 2008.]
Descriptors: Feedback (Response), Writing Evaluation, Student Evaluation, Reading, Writing Tests, Conflict, Teaching Load, Program Effectiveness, Reading Processes, Writing Instruction, Writing Improvement, Peer Evaluation, Instructional Effectiveness, Classroom Techniques, Scoring Rubrics, Program Descriptions, Educational Strategies
International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning. Web site: http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
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