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E-Portfolios
Student portfolios historically have been used to allow students to self-assess their learning and accomplishments by compiling and reflecting upon their work throughout a course or entire university experience. An e-portfolio adds to the strengths of a traditional portfolio through web access to the portfolio; e-portfolios contain hyperlinks, permit continuous revision, and facilitate peer review . Thus e-portfolios are a growing component of assessing students' learning. A good reference on this subject, with some basic descriptions, can be found at the American Association of Higher Education.
Courseware like WebCT and CourseInfo
Both courseware products available at BU, WebCT and CourseInfo, allow students to electronically display writing samples to the class participants. Since both courseware products use Kerberos password protection to access information, only students registered for the class can see their peers' works. A comparison of WebCT and CourseInfo is available from WebCentral.
In-Class Writing Workshops
[Suggestions extracted from a CET workshop presented by Professor Sylvia Shaw (College of General Studies) on 11/10/05]
Basic idea: In a class that requires writing, hold a workshop in which students edit each other's work.
A. Benefits
1. It improves student writing by providing feedback
2. It provides students with experience in editing a paper
a. Promotes critical thinking
b. Enhances communication skills
c. Increases confidence in writing
3. It decentralizes authority so that student sees criticism as less top-down judgment and more as contructive feedback
4. It encourages appropriate collaboration that is under the control of the instructor
5. Instructor sees an improved draft, allowing concentration on content
6. Students are more engaged than in a top-down process
B. Drawbacks
1. It takes time from class
2. Some students dislike format, react badly to peer review of their work
3. Drawing up guidelines requires time & effort
C. Running a workshop (example for a 1 hr. 20 min. class)
1. ca. 15 min. on thesis & conclusion
2. ca. 20 min. on content - editors should look for insight provided by paper
3. ca. 30 min. on development of ideas
Handouts
Ten-minute workshop on introductions to papers: Word format PDF format
Tips on introductions & conclusions, from the Simon and Schuster Handbook for Writers : Word format PDF format
Workshop on introductions & conclusions: Word format PDF format
Workshop on thesis, title, & insight: Word format PDF format
Turnitin.com
While Turnitin.com is primarily known for being a plagiarism detection website, it can also be used for students to review their classmates' work. In the peer review mode of Turnitin.com, when students submit their work to a particular class folder on the website, the submissions are viewable by other members of the class including the instructor. Students' reviews can be combinations of essays and rubrics (ratings) and the reviews are available to the instructor. Turnitin has a database of questions and rubrics to be addressed in the review assignment, or instructors can write their own questions.
Boston University has a campus subscription to Turnitin.com. To use the website, create a profile (user name, password, etc). Then contact Allison Malaska in the Office of the Provost (3-6868) to obtain the registration codes needed to use the website under the campus license.
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