Teaching Technical Writing through Student Peer-Evaluation

Wayne Jensen University of Nebraska–Lincoln ; Bruce Fischer University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Abstract

Individual students in two different sections of an undergraduate civil engineering laboratory were tasked with preparing three professional-quality laboratory reports. The teaching assistant and/or instructor used established criteria to grade the first two reports prepared by students in one section. The first two reports prepared by students in the other section were peer evaluated by assigned fellow students within the same laboratory section using identical grading criteria. The peer evaluated section had a higher class average than the teaching assistant/instructor graded section on the fist two reports. The third report prepared by students from both sections was graded by a professional educator/architect without knowledge of a student's class section. The peer evaluation students also had a higher class average on the third report, suggesting that the peer evaluation process may have positively contributed to those students' writing skills.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2005-01-01
DOI
10.2190/mbyg-ak7l-5ct7-54du
Open Access
Closed
Topics

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Journal of Business and Technical Communication

Cites in this index (2)

  1. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
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