Critiquing Content not Contributors
In my online courses I tend to shock the students.
I ask them to critique their peers content.
This of course is met with shock and silence until I explain the importance of peer evaluation, being able to take a critique as well as learning how to communicate with each other online.
The first and most important rule is always critique the content not the contributor - I show them examples of that as I grade their essays. I never write "your thesis lacks an argument" it's always "THE thesis lacks argument" or "The essay did not meet word count".
Critical assessment is a tough skill to learn and students need all practice they can get. I often guide them as much as possible to ask these questions in discussion boards- usually toward the end of the course most are applying this new strategy of communication.
Has anyone else tried something like this?
Jennifer,
I use peer assessment all the time. I'm glad you incorporate it as well. Showing them examples fo comments is excellent. I have the students use the same rubric I'm going to use to assess their work and assess their own work and their peers' work. It's effective.
Hello Jennifer and Dr. Crews. I am not confortable to asking student to critique another student's posts. I have found in my class that students can get on the defensive when this happens. I discourage this practice and encourage them to explore the topic in other ways and recognize connections or relationships, to expand scope.
I suppose if the class is designed to critique work, if they were taking Education course and learning about assessments, where all students are engaging in this activity, it would be different. However, I feel that if it is an English, math, or science class, for example, it may not be the right choice, especially when it does not seem to fit the design or purpose of a "discussion question." Critiques should be reserved for the faculty member to gauge the quality of the post and provide guidance for improvement. Students who engage in the discuss should be more focused on building knowledge and critical thinking skills.
Maybe if I learned more about it, I would see its usefulness.
Debra,
I have peers evaluate other work, but not typically posts on a discussion board. Peer evaluations are also always done anonymously. Hope that helps clarify what I meant to say. Thanks!
I am not a big fan of allowing students to critique other students. As mentioned in the post, critical assessment is a tough skill to learn and it is the instructor's responsibility.
I am a big fan of allowing students to 'teach' subjects. I believe that once you are able to teach a subject, you truly understand it. To me, this skill is much more valuable at this point than critical assessment.
Michelle,
Students "teaching" material is an effective method as well. I had a friend who said her teaching philosophy is "See it. Do it. Teach it." The students should see a demonstration of whatever needs to be done, do it and then teach someone else how to do it. Then, they have learned it. Thanks!
I am not a big fan of student criticism in an online class room unless I have sufficient time to discover concerns before the students realize that conflict exists.
I am a fan of student criticism in a traditional class room because I am present at the time of the creation of the conflict.
Albert,
Maybe it's because you feel that it's easier to control in a F2F classroom. I can see that, but it is good to help students develop skills in constructive criticism. Many art classes and writing classes can effectively do that. Thanks for your input.
