# Foundations and Assessment of Education/Edition 1/Foundations Table of Contents/Chapter 4/In the News/Peer Review One

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This article has been reviewed by: Jnewh001 (talk) 14:16, 13 June 2009 (UTC)
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PEER REVIEW TEMPLATE
Use this template for your peer reviews.
DIRECTIONS:
You are required to complete TWO (2) peer reviews.
Please take your time and provide effective, helpful feedback. Plan to spend 1.5 to 2 hours per review!
Each peer review is worth 50 points and will be "graded" by the article's author. (Click on Discussion to see the rubric the author will use to grade your peer review.)
You may only review articles written in the current semester (no articles with BOLD titles)
As instructed above, be sure to sign your peer review with four tilde ~~~~. You will not receive credit for reviews that are not signed
To complete this assignment, we suggest having two tabs/windows open in your browser (e.g. Internet Explorer): one with this peer review template and one with the article you are reviewing
Starting the DAY AFTER the peer reviews are due, you may complete ADDITIONAL peer reviews for EXTRA CREDIT (25 points each). You MAY NOT complete any Extra Credit Reviews until that time.
Part 1 - Article Components
Learning Target(s)
Answer the following questions regarding the learning targets:
Is/are the stated learning targets actual learning targets i.e. they state what the reader should know or be able to do after reading the article? __No____
Is/are the learning target(s) specific? __No_____
Is/are they appropriate and reasonable? (Are they too easy or too difficult for ECI 301 students?) __No____
Is/are they observable? (You wouldn't have to look inside the readers head to know if they met this target.) ____No__
Does the article provide adequate information for readers to achieve these targets? __No____
Please make a comment about the learning target(s). If you answered "No" to any of the questions above, please explain how the author can improve them.
Comment:Edgar, you should create four things that you expect the reader to understand based on your article. Your questions at the end should correlate to those learning targets. You have a lot of great information, and because you have already done your questions, just identify the overall target that you met in the questions and use those at the start of your paper.
Grammar and Mechanics Review
Please either paste the entire body of the article here or any sections that you feel need to be revised.
To do this:
go back to the module page for the article
select "edit this page"
highlight all the text, hit control "c" (or "copy" from the edit menu)
navigate back to your peer review page
click edit this page and paste the text into this window (use control "v" or paste from the edit menu)
You may want to have Wikibooks open in two windows/tabs to make this process easier.
Type your comments in ALL CAPITALS or in another color so the author can easily find them.
PASTE TEXT HERE
In CNN, America's scapegoat for news, there was a report from a student named Marcia Hutchinson who faced stereotypes and discrimination in a British classroom, being from Jamaican decent ( Hutchinson, 2009).
Make sure that you are using a neutral point of view when doing your article.
Foreign language education though ignored by many is becoming more of a requirement as the population of the United States increases annually. Diversified classrooms could be very beneficial for students in the long-run. Why? well as the United States becomes more diverse culturally, students are faced with the fact that employment opportunities are going to be offered to that bilingual student.
The first sentence needs commas between education, and after many. Try not to use the question in the paragraph "Why?" You can take out Why? and well and the sentence starting with "as the..." will still make sense. I think that separating your paragraphs with smaller headings will also bring some points out instead of a lot of paragraphs of information.
Sources
For each source listed in the "References" section of the article, name the type of source (scholarly or popular) and the perspective it provides (research, expert opinion from educator, popular news source, parent organization, personal contact, etc.)
.scholarly: expert opinion from educator
.popular: news source
.popular: magazine
.scholarly: trade organization
List the range of publication years for all sources, e.g. 1998-2006: __1993____ - ___2009_____
Answer the following questions about the sources used in the article:
Did the author CITE at least 5 sources? ___No_______ and use at least 2 scholarly sources? ___Yes___
Are the citations in APA format? ___Yes___
Here are two examples of citations in APA format, one for a paraphrase and one for a quotation:
Constructing a title is both a science and an art, but on one fact all of the experts agree: the title must contain a colon (Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, & Starr, 2007).
Unfortunately impoverished children are often attending “low-performing schools staffed by ill-equipped teachers” (Murnane, 2007, p. 34).
Are all the sources listed in APA format in a Reference list labeled "References"? __No____
Here is an example of a reference written in APA format:
Bailey, J., & Barnum, P. (2001). The colon and its rise to prominence in the American circus. Journal of American Punctuation, 34(5), 2-3.
Taken together do the 5 sources represent a good balance of potential references for this topic? ___Yes___
Does the author consider potential bias in the sources? __No____
Are most of the sources current (less than 5 years old)? ___No___
Please make a comment about the sources. If you answered "No" to any of the questions above, please explain how the author can improve.
Comment:
You need more sources to really round out the paper. You referenced CNN and Oprah in the paper, I know those are popular sources but they may have some articles or multi-media sources that you could put in your article. Maybe you could also use some government educational policies that would relate to changes in diversity training. You also need to make sure that your reference list is in APA format. You can go to MS Word and it will help to organize your references and cite them as you go in your paper. I am not sure about the Black Magazine, I am wondering if there may be bias in that publication.
Multiple Choice Questions
What does each question assess: knowledge or reasoning (application of knowledge)?
Question 1 _______knowledge________________
Question 2 __________reasoning_____________
Question 3 _______reasoning________________
Question 4 ________reasoning_______________
Answer the following questions about the multiple-choice questions.
Are there 4 multiple-choice questions? ___Yes___
Do they each have four answer choices (A-D)? ___Yes___
Is there a single correct (not opinion-based) answer for each question? __No___
Do the questions assess the learning target? ___No___
Are the questions appropriate and reasonable (not too easy and not too difficult)? __No____
Are the foils (the response options that are NOT the answer) reasonable i.e. they are not very obviously incorrect answers? ___Yes___
Are the response options listed in alphabetical order? ____Yes__
Are correct answers provided and listed BELOW all the questions? ____Yes__
Please make a comment about the multiple-choice questions. If you answered "No" to any of the questions above, please explain how the author can improve the question/s.
Comment:
In the first question, in the article it stated that the reference was to "preschool" without clear definition as to the ages. If you are just using personal knowledge that could encompass ages 0–5, which could be two answers.
In the third question, the question is not easy to understand based on the article and no answers seemed to fit.
In the fourth question, there is more than one answer to the question and the answer is not clearly found in the article.
Part 2 - Ratings
LIST and EXPLAIN your rating for each of the four criteria.
Importance:
I rated this article __4_ for importance because... there were any valid points that are relevant to teachers. There was also some researched information that was provided. The content was applicable to today's schools.
Interest:
I rated this article _2__ on interest because...there was no clear difference between paragraphs and key points. There was no visual interest and although you included a sidebar it needed to be included in the piece and in a box of color and distinction. There was also a biased view in the paper that needs to be revised.
Credibility:
I rated this article __2_ for credibility because...there was only 4 sources listed and there could be bias in one of the sources. I also did not rely on the information fully due to the age of some of the sources.
Writing skill:
I rated this article __1_ on writing because... there was no learning target and there were some awkward sentence structures.
HIGHLIGHT SPECIFIC POINTS IN THE RUBRIC that apply to the article.
To do this: Highlight sections with the cursor and use the BOLD icon above OR type ''' (3 apostrophes) before and after the text you want to make bold
Wiki Article Rubric
criteria
5
4
3
2
1
How important was the information presented on this topic to you as a teacher education student?
Covers key ideas crucial for future teachers to know
Based on researched information.
Highly relevant to current educational practice (*this description may be less applicable for some topics such as history of education)
Provides an excellent overview of the topic including relevant research, educational practice, laws and litigation. Includes in-depth discussion of at least a few selected key issues.
Includes ideas relevant to future teachers
Mostly based on researched information.
Applicable to today’s schools
Provides a good general overview with relevant information and discussion of a few key ideas
A couple useful points; some irrelevant information
About half of the information is the author’s opinion.
Some out-dated information; may not reflect current practice
Good information is included but the paper yields a partial /incomplete understanding of the topic or key issues
One useful point
A few facts but mostly the author’s opinion.
Most of the information is irrelevant in today’s schools.
Focused on unimportant subtopics OR overly general with few specifics. Important information is missing.
Information is not relevant to future teachers.
Information is entirely the author’s opinion.
The information is obsolete.
Only irrelevant details or common knowledge. Lacks any substantive information.
criteria
5
4
3
2
1
How interesting was the article to read?
Sidebar includes new information that was motivating to read/view
Visuals (headings, colors, fonts, pictures, etc.) enhance the article by making it easier or more inviting to read
Multiple perspectives are considered and discussed
Mostly new information/ideas
Insightful interpretation & analysis are evident throughout the article; a clearly stated conclusion synthesizes all of the material presented.
Points are clearly made and elaborated on with compelling examples.
Sidebar includes new information that enhances understanding of the topic
Visuals add to the article
At least two perspectives were presented
About half of the information/ideas are new
Interpretation and analysis is provided for 3-4 points in the article; a reasonable conclusion based on this information is stated
Some good points are made and explained.
Sidebar includes new information related to the topic.
Visuals are included but have minimal effect
One interesting or new perspective is presented
A couple (2-3) new ideas or pieces of information
Interpretation/ analysis is included for a few (1-2) individual sections, but there is not a conclusion that synthesizes the information presented.
Points are made but may not always be adequately supported or explained.
Sidebar repeats what is already in the article
Visuals are somewhat distracting or not included
Only the “typical” view or one biased perspective is presented.
One new idea or bit of information
Information presented with minimal analysis or interpretation; no conclusion or the conclusion is not based on the information presented
At least one clear point is made and supported.
No side bar included.
Visuals are offensive and completely detract from the content
No perspective is acknowledged.
Nothing new.
No analysis or interpretation included
No clear points are made or points appear pasted from other sources without any explanation.
criteria
5
4
3
2
1
How credible do you think the information is?
Required sources are properly cited and included in a reference list in APA format.
Information from diverse sources representing multiple perspectives is included. Several reputable and current sources are cited. The author acknowledges potential bias in sources where appropriate.
Author clearly identifies his own ideas, biases and opinions
Required sources are included; a couple of formatting errors
Information from a variety of sources is included. Most sources are reasonably reputable; bias is acknowledged in others.
It is clear when the author is presenting his own opinion; he doesn’t try to pass if off as fact.
Required sources are included; APA format is not used or has many errors.
A variety of sources is listed but the information primarily reflects a single viewpoint. Sources are reasonable.
The author occasionally (1-2 times) states his own opinion as fact.
Only 4 sources are cited/listed in the references or only 1 scholarly source was used
Sources lack diversity OR information from divergent sources is only superficially mentioned. Some sources are untrustworthy or biased and not acknowledged as such.
Author routinely (3-4 times) states her opinion as fact, ignores own biases.
Missing two or more sources OR sources used but not cited or listed.
All sources and information reflect a single viewpoint. Most sources are untrustworthy or biased and not acknowledged as such.
The entire article is biased and opinion-based without acknowledgment of this perspective.
criteria
5
4
3
2
1
How well do you think this article was written?
Multiple-choice questions (2 application & 2 knowledge) align with the learning targets, assess key points, and are written according to guidelines (see R4)
Specific, appropriate and observable learning targets are stated; the content is clearly organized to help the reader achieve these goals
Captures and maintains attention throughout
All or almost all of the cited information is introduced, elaborated on and explained
Writing is organized, easy to read, and contains few to no mechanical errors.
Multiple-choice questions (2 application & 2 knowledge) align with the learning targets, and assess key points.
Specific and reasonable learning targets are stated; the content aligns with these goals
Captures attention initially and periodically throughout
Most of the cited information is discussed or explained.
The article flowed pretty well and there were just a few mechanical errors.
Multiple-choice questions (2 application & 2 knowledge) assess key points
Reasonable learning targets are stated; the content relates to these goals
Parts of the article capture attention
About half of the cited information is discussed
A few areas were hard to follow, confusing or oddly organized. There were a few distracting errors.
4 multiple-choice questions are included.
Learning targets generally related to the content are stated
At least one part of the article is interesting
Information is “pasted” together with minimal explanation.
Organization was difficult to follow, sentences were awkward and/or there were several distracting errors.
Questions are missing or not multiple-choice.
Learning target is missing or unrelated to content or is/are not actual learning targets
Nothing in the article grabs the reader’s attention
Article is entirely “pasted” together from other sources.
Poor organization, sentence structure and/or grammatical errors made it very difficult to understand the content.
Part 3 - "2+2"
List TWO compliments and TWO suggestions about the article content
Hints:
Focus on the work, not the person
Describe "There is...", "I see.." rather than judge "You didn't..."
Compliments
. I see that you have a great grasp on what it takes to make teachers understand the importance of diversity awareness.
. There is a lot of valid information that you have included in the article and many parts were well written.
Suggestions
. I think that including more sources and some attention to organization in the piece would really make the piece interesting and balanced. Make sure that you go on other articles to see how they made their sidebars and used the wikicode, which I know is difficult to understand, so that you make your piece more visually appealing.
.The inclusion of the learning targets will also help to take you back through the article and ensure that you have clear questions that have answers that are easily found from reading the article.
You can make compliments and suggestions that relate to specific areas of the paper or to the paper in general. I suggest a mixture of both. Focus on what's most important. Of course, you can also include more than two suggestions and more than two compliments. The goal is to help the author improve his/her article. :