National University of Singapore – Stanford University Exchange of Research Papers
“Draft Workshop Peer Review”: Guidelines - Duration 1-1.5 Hour Skype Connection – April 7, 2010
MEET here in classroom at 4 pm  Connection will be 4:30-5:30 (or later if you can stay)
PURPOSE: During this workshop, you will work closely with a peer as she or he provides you with
feedback on your work. The workshop will take place face-to-face via Skype as well as by email. You will
have the opportunity to ask your peer questions about your paper and receive advice. You will in turn
act as a reader, giving feedback and advice, for your peer’s paper. Please approach this exercise in a
proactive spirit: engage actively with your readers. Come to class with questions you want to ask about
the draft, and be prepared to take notes intensively as you discuss it with them. The main purpose of
this workshop will be for you to get feedback on your draft as it stands. We will focus in class on the
opening 2 pages (500-600 words) of your paper.
PLAN:
Getting to know you questions (5 -10 minutes):
1. Name
2. Major
3. What is the most interesting thing about your campus
4. Briefly explain your assignment to your partner
Then, PEER REVIEW (40-50 minutes).
First, either send file by SKYPE or if that doesn’t work, email the file.
Take the time to read through the first two pages. You will need to write comments for each other. You
can either write comments and annotate as you read and THEN you will verbally share your comments.
OR, you can read and discuss your comments together first and THEN write up your comments and
email them to each other and copy the instructors.
Overall: The key here is for you to give each other a sense of whether your partner can grasp why you
are engaging in a particular project and whether it seems like a worthwhile project. MOREOVER, is your
working thesis convincing?
As you work on this peer review, do also address the following concrete questions with your partner:

TOPIC: a statement of your topic: is it related to the course theme or module? Is it derived
from your primary source? (That is, is it focused adequately on both the course theme and the
primary source?) Is it feasible, or doable for scope of the paper (not too narrow or too
ambitious)?

MOTIVE: a clearly articulated, strong motive: What is your research question and why does it
matter? In other words, what is the rationale for your paper? Is it suggested by your primary
source or sources? Is there a well developed statement of motive or significance?

WORKING THESIS: this is your preliminary thesis or hypothesis: is it contestable, not obvious?
Does it respond to the problem that your motive poses?

EVIDENCE: the most important evidence that you will consider; for the Singapore students,
what are the inferences you will make based on your evidence? How does the evidence relate to
your working thesis?

SOURCES: the most important sources that you will be using: are they named concretely and
specifically? Are you using evidence from the sources responsibly? Do the secondary sources
share a frame of reference with the primary source? Are you using the sources primarily for
context, or theoretically/conceptually?
Readers: look for these aspects in the draft and comment on them during the workshop. Writers: take
notes during the workshop to help you improve your draft in the revision process. When you are done
with the review, discuss the following final question about what you learned from this exchange:
Closing Remarks – as you say goodbye, discuss your cross-Cultural perspective on this connection:
What did you learn about how writing is taught at other universities across the world? What did
you learn about another culture from the essay itself? Comment either on the argument itself or on
the writing and rhetorical strategies used by the writer of this paper!
FINAL STEP:
Within the next 24 hours, please email each other comments and cc your instructors please – thank you!
Johan Geertsema (uspjgh@nus.edu.sg) and Alyssa O’ Brien (aobrien@stanford.edu)