Kristi Nelson

Shelli Spotts

English 313

6 December 2017

Why Peer Edit?

Freshman year of BYU I was in Writing 150. We were working on our first paper: Opinion

Editorial. We were told to bring a rough draft to class. When the bell rang that day, my professor

told us to get into partnerships so we could edit each others writing. I could feel the nerves

building inside of me. My heart was starting to race. My face was turning red. The thought kept

running through my head, I am not smart enough to do this. As I read my peers paper, I did

not soak in any words. Instead, I sat there thinking why do I always feel so insecure reading

over their papers? I put on a face though. I made them think that I knew what I was doing. My

body language was calm. You would have never guessed that on the inside I was screaming.

Why was it so hard for me to peer edit freshman year of college? I had done it growing

up, so it should be easy. The answer is that I was never properly taught how to peer edit. I was

never taught how it can be most effective. Because of that, every time I have to peer edit, it

brings out many insecurities. I have always felt uncomfortable with other people looking at my

writing because I feel as if they are going to judge me. But will doing things all on your own help

you grow to your full potential? The truth really is that peer editing will help you grow as a writer.

There are many aspects of peer editing that need to be taught and used in schools to help

students become the best writer they can be.

There are reasons that students, like me, feel incompetent when it comes to peer

editing. Elementary school is when students start to learn all about writing. So this is the time

where teachers should be teaching students how to properly peer edit and building student

confidence in writing. Teachers are so concerned about if the final product is how they want it to

be, but not as concerned about the process it took to get there (Kolling 5). People say things like
Focus on the journey, not the destination a lot. I think quotes like that can be applicable to this

situation. Teachers get so concerned about their students reaching the goals they have set for

the final product, so they put most of their focus on that. The journey is the process that gets

you to the destination. It is the time you take to practice and build the confidence needed to

reach the desired end goal.

Another issue that comes with writing is that teachers tend to do too much of the editing

(Kolling 5). Students will write their papers, turn them in, then the teacher will read them and edit

the papers. They are letting the students learn from the feedback they give them, but that is

completely different from peer feedback. When the teacher is doing all the editing, they are

demonstrating the writing process, but not allowing their students to do it themselves because

editing is part of the process. It is taking the practice away from the students. They are not

letting the student be apart of the journey. It is like the teacher is the one enjoying the journey

and the student only gets to enjoy the destination. That may be the easy option, but it is not the

fulfilling option.

But what things should students be looking for during the journey? That is a huge

problem when it comes to peer editing. That was always my problem. I would be given a paper

to edit, but I never knew what I was doing. If my teachers told me exactly what to look for, that

would have changed everything. A way to help students know what they should be looking for

while peer editing is having a rubric. Kristi Lundstrom and Wendy Baker share and example of

the use of rubrics in their essay To Give is Better than to Receive: The Benefits of Peer Review

to the Reviewers Own Writing. They say how a teacher who used rubrics had more

improvements in their students writing and became much more reliable writers because they

knew what they were looking for (32). I know that if I were ever given a rubric growing up while

peer editing, it would boost my confidence. I always asked myself, what do I look for? With a

rubric, you will have a better idea of what you are looking for. Because students will know what

they are looking for, they will know the types of things that make them better writers as well. So
they will know what to look for in their own writing. If used right, rubrics can be a great tool in

helping improve writing.

Richard Johnson, author of The Next Frontier of the Student-Centered Classroom:

Teaching Students to Recognize Quality Writing through the use of Peer Evaluation, makes a

reference about the quality of papers that we are exposing our students to. There may be a

student that is writing at a C level, but that never changes. That could be because they are

never exposed to what an A paper looks like, so they do not know how to get there (8). They are

not getting the opportunity to practice on the many different levels of papers.

Not seeing an example of what you are working towards is like making a type of cookie

you have never made before. If you do not have an idea of what you are working toward, then

you will not know what it takes to get there. Seeing an example of an A grade paper is like

seeing a picture of the cookie. If you see an example of it, you know what you are working

toward. The process will always be different though. I may put the ingredients of the cookie in

the bowl in a different order than someone else, but it will still end up as the same type of

cookie. As long as I use the right ingredients it will end up being the right kind of cookie. The

same can be applied to writing a paper. There is a process of writing a paper, but everyone is

going to approach it differently. As long as the aspects of a well developed paper are in it, the

approach does not matter. Some people may decide how to word their thesis at the very

beginning while others might change their thesis throughout the paper. It does not matter how

the writer gets their thesis, but that they have the thesis.

There are some important things that make a good cookie. For starters, you need to

know how to bake. Learning is the first step. This is the same with peer editing. Teachers need

to take the time to teach students how to properly edit their peers work. If students are not

properly taught, they will not know what they are looking for. They will feel like they do not have

the skills it takes to edit someone else's work, much like I did my freshman year of BYU. When

we as teachers lack to properly instruct our students, they will not grow in the ways we expect
them to (Kollings 1). This is an example of focusing more on the journey. We cannot expect our

students to miraculously know how to reach the end goal. We need to coach them, so they

know how to get there.

Once they know the steps in writing, they need to practice. Writing is like riding a bike or

learning to drive. It takes a lot of practice until you feel comfortable (Adams 5). But sadly, writing

practice is not given the same attention as practice in driving or riding a bike. Parents will take

time to make sure their kids learn these skills, but how often do you see a parent take the time

to make sure their child has proper writing skills? Writing should be practiced just as learning to

drive or ride a bike is. The more exposure a student receives, the better they will become.

Students are able to explore ideas when they have the opportunity to see others work

(Deni and Zainor 92). It is always helpful to get another person's point of view. When students

are isolating themselves with their writing, they are not improving like the way they can be when

they are actively involved with each other and implementing improvements one another can

make. Dixie Adams, the author of Improving Writing Skills and Related Attitudes Among

Elementary School Students, sees the downfalls of only writing with ones self. There are not as

many opportunities when keeping writing to yourself to find new ideas, or see the small things

that you may have messed up on, such as spelling or grammar. Moving from isolated writing

activities to peer editing will open the writer to many different perspectives on their own writing.

Adams also sees the beauty in having others look over your writing and the effects it can have.

There are always things you miss when working on your own writing. People have eyes for

different things. They catch things you might not. They have different ideas than you. It can

open you up to many different views. When you are not sharing your writing with others, your

eyes are isolated. You need to look harder to find improvements because you only see what

you want. Other people do not have the same opinion as you and do not know what to expect,

so their eyes are open.

 There are also many improvements that have been seen from peer editing. In The Effect

of Peer and Teacher Feedback on Student Writing, by Trena M. Paulus she gives an example

of how in a class, students who receive peer feedback on top of teacher feedback would receive

higher grades. Then they compared the grades on final papers to papers that only received

teacher feedback to papers that only received peer feedback. The peer feedback papers

received the higher scores. This is because of the process of peer editing. There is more verbal

communication between the students as they edit each other's papers. This is effective for the

students receiving the feedback because they are actually able to hear what they need to work

on or change. It is also extremely effective for the students who are giving the feedback

because, according to Paulus, it helps with students critical thinking skills (267). When students

are able to read other pieces of writing, it broadens their horizons. They are able to see what

else is out there. It can give them inspiration for their own writing. They can see things in the

writing that they are reviewing that they like that they want in their own. Or maybe something

that should not be there that is in their writing as well.

According to Lundstrom and Baker, the authors of To Give is Better than to Receive:

The Benefits of Peer Review to the Reviewer's Own Writing, there is a greater effect on giving

feedback than there is when it comes to receiving it (2).I believe that it goes back to the critical

thinking. In order to give feedback to someone, you do have to use the knowledge that you have

and really think about what they have written. Lundstrom and Baker also point out the fact that

students who are taught to give feedback have higher improvements in their writing than the

students who use the feedback (38). Because they are using those critical thinking skills, they

are learning what they need to do to make their writing better. They are starting to see what

things make good writing and bad writing. If the students are able to apply the things they have

learned while giving feedback to other people's writing, it is possible that they can learn to apply

it to their own writing.

 A big problem with peer editing is that there is low quality feedback being given (93) as

stated by Ann Deni, the author of Peer-Editing Practice in the Writing Classroom: Benefits and

Drawbacks. I always felt like I was giving low quality feedback. But having something to help

guide the feedback, like a rubric, can help improve it. Knowing this, I think it is important as

teachers to find ways to help students learn what is effective feedback and how to use it. And

find effective tools for helping them peer edit.

Peer editing is not something we should be having students do so we do not have to

grade as much. It is a learning tool for them. We need to make sure that they are learning as

much as they can. By having them do more of the editing themselves and practicing they will

get the exposure they need to become exceptional writers. We need to show them what good

editing is. Teacher feedback is still a big part of learning, but it can be used as an example so

students can see the types of things they should be looking for. Rubrics show as well. They

need to see. Anyway to help our students see how to be effective will help push them in the

direction they should go to feel comfortable as writers.

Works Cited

Adams, Dixie, and And Others. Improving Writing Skills and Related Attitudes among Elementary

School Students, 1996, https://www-lib-byu-edu.erl.lib.byu.edu/cgi-

bin/remoteauth.pl?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e

ric&AN=ED398595&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Deni, Ann R. M., and Zainor I. Zainal. "Peer-Editing Practice in the Writing Classroom: Benefits

and Drawbacks." Advances in Language and Literary Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2011, pp. 92-107,

https://www-lib-byu-edu.erl.lib.byu.edu/cgi-

bin/remoteauth.pl?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e
 ric&AN=EJ1131511&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Johnson, Richard. The Next Frontier of the Student-Centered Classroom: Teaching Students to

Recognize Quality Writing through the use of Peer Evaluation. , 2001, https://www-lib-byu-

edu.erl.lib.byu.edu/cgi-

bin/remoteauth.pl?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e

ric&AN=ED463813&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Kolling, Ann. Improving Student Revising and Editing Skills through the use of Peer Editing and

Writing Conferencing, 2002, https://www-lib-byu-edu.erl.lib.byu.edu/cgi-

bin/remoteauth.pl?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e

ric&AN=ED465189&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Lundstrom, Kristi, and Wendy Baker. To Give is Better than to Receive: The Benefits of Peer

Review to the Reviewer's Own Writing. vol. 18, , 2009,

http://www.sciencedirect.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/science/article/pii/S1060374308000313,

doi://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2008.06.002.

Paulus, Trena M. The Effect of Peer and Teacher Feedback on Student Writing. vol. 8, , 1999,

http://www.sciencedirect.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/science/article/pii/S1060374399801179,

doi://doi.org/10.1016/S1060-3743(99)80117-9.