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Drafting and Forums
by Michael J. Cripps
Every teacher and writer knows that the drafting process is at
the center of any effort to improve writing. For many students,
however, drafting often appears as a chore and as something to be
avoided (or minimized). The most successful writing instructors
find ways to make drafting work in their classes. A bulletin board
forum can extend that work beyond the confines of the classroom,
and can distribute more broadly the benefits of drafting.
One way to link peer review to revisions that get into the final
draft of a paper is to require students to revise specific passages
and post both the original and the revision to the forum. This assignment
works best if it is due by the class meeting following a peer review
day because it keeps the students thinking about their drafts. Without
a requirement of this sort, students often put off revisions until
just before the final draft is due and risk losing much of the benefit
of peer review.
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