Using Critical Evaluation And Peer Review Writing Assignments In A Chemical Process Safety Course

Lessons are learned on both sides of the peer review, both by those who are critically evaluating someone else’s work and by those whose work is evaluated. The first drafts tend to be improved because the students realize that their peers will be reading their writing. The final drafts improve since the students are provided with a formalized method to revise the original report in response to the review. The reviewer benefits from being forced to evaluate someone else’s writing and to consider the elements that lead to an effective report. Of course, the instructor must provide sufficient structure and guidance to prevent students from giving entirely negative or hierarchical evaluations. This paper presents two techniques to help students develop their critical thinking and communication skills. In the first, students are asked to critically review a journal article and to prepare a brief evaluation of the journal article. The second technique described is to allow the students to practice the anonymous refereeing process with their peers 5 . Each of these techniques