Draft Review Checklist
Your feedback is valuable even if you feel you are not an expert. Constructive comments can be helpful to the author and others. Others welcome your comments and suggestions for improvement. As you review your peer’s paper you should focus on the quality of the reasoning about the problem that is being addressed in your peer’s paper. According to Linda Elder and Richard Paul (Elder & Paul, 1996) there are specific standards that should be used to assess the quality of this reasoning.
Use the following list of significant standards to guide your feedback:
1. CLARITY: Could you elaborate further on that point? Could you express that point in another way? Could you provide an illustration? Could you give an example?
2. ACCURACY: Is that really true? How could we check that? How could we find out if that is true?
3. PRECISION: Could you give more details? Could you be more specific?
4. RELEVANCE: How is that connected to the question? How does that bear on the issue?
5. DEPTH: How does your answer address the complexities in the question? How are you taking into account the problems in the question? Is that dealing with the most significant factors?
6. BREADTH: Do we need to consider another point of view? Is there another way to look at this question? What would this look like from a conservative standpoint? What would this look like from another’s the point of view?
7. LOGIC: Does this really make sense? Do the arguments lead to the conclusion? Did you imply one thing and then contradict it?
When providing constructive feedback, make sure your statements are clear and precise. The easiest way to do this is to state your opinion on something and then explain that opinion. Be sure to be respectful and constructive at all times: think of how you would want someone to critique your own work. Be sure to emphasize the strengths of the piece before pointing out areas that need improvement.
Use the following questions to guide your...