Critiquing (0 points)
Overview
Constructive criticism
helps the person whose work is being critiqued, and the person who is providing
the feedback. The person being critiqued gains a fresh perspective and valuable
concrete feedback that can be used to improve their work, whereas the reviewer
learns how to improve their own writing by seeing what works (and doesn't
work) in the writing and oral presentations of others. Your critique should
be constructive, which means being gentle but honest. Your critique
will not be helpful if you ignore problems where they exist, but you must
also be open-minded and avoid having the reader
become so defensive that the review is considered unfair, and then ignored.
Procedure
Throughout the term, you will review the work of fellow students and provide constructive criticism. For this assignment, you should read the following tips on how to provide constructive criticism, then review these tips periodically throughout the term. Although this assignment is worth 0 points, you will be graded on the reviews you provide to your fellow students (see critique grading).Your critiques should consider the format, presentation, and substance of the materials you review. For each assignment, address all the following general questions, plus any questions that are specific to the assignment:
- Is the writing clear, concise, and unambiguous?
- Does the writing use proper grammar, syntax, and a style that is consistent and appropriate?
- Is the writing understandable to the non-specialist and does it avoid unnecessary jargon?
- Is the assignment complete (i.e., does it contain all of the required elements)?
- How can improvements be made? In addition to highlighting problems, a good critique describes how improvements can be made. This is one of your main responsibilities as a reviewer.