Feeding back
Thoughts on feedback
Some things are done best on paper. I've printed out copies (reformatted for this purpose) of all the "position papers" I found up until a few minutes before class, and in a moment I'll print any that have come in since my last pass.
There are three copies of each. What we're going to do today is give feedback. As you know usually the way I ask people to read other people's writing is to attend to what it says; if you don't understand, be aware of that; if you misunderstand maybe your response to it will let the writer infer that; if you're irritated by a way of formatting, ignore it as best you can: I usually want writing to be serving as a way of exchanging ideas, insights, and information. To the extent that the reader focuses on helping a writer produce a better text, her attention and response to what the writer is saying declines, and so does the writer's sense of whether a reader is paying attention to what she says. It doesn't disappear, but it becomes proportionally less important. If you're correcting someone's grammar (in a conversation, say) it amounts to abruptly changing the subject.
But there are, of course, times when that way of dealing with language is appropriate. The classic case is when I ask a trusted colleague to read a draft of an article, and invite her to help with it. She'll read it for what it says, sure, but her main job is to see where I might make the piece of writing better.
That's what I'm suggesting we do today. During our class time, I invite you to read at least two (more if you have time) of the "position papers" and annotate them helpfully, so that the author can, between now and next class, edit them and make them better. If you haven't posted a draft, you can't participate in the process.
Our main focus isn't on whether the writer should go back to the drawing board and come up with a better idea: our aim is to make what she's saying clearer, more organized, more conventionally displayed, and more consistent. You should read each paper at least a couple of times, pen in hand, and make whatever helpful suggestions you think appropriate. Here are some things to look for:
When we're done, pull all the annotated copies of your own paper out of the "finished" pile. Between now and class time Wednesday, go back to your wiki page and do whatever editing you can to make your paper better. Keep track of issues that you have trouble with, suggestions you wonder about the validity of, problems you don't know for sure how to solve. We'll discuss all this in class on Wednesday.
Please bring the annotated copies back to class with you on Wednesday.
Feedback on feedback
You may have noticed that I've published all the anonymous feedback that people offered about the various learning strategies I'm using in this course. It's linked from the main course page. I invite you to read through it, at whatever depth you like; I think there are some important issues raised, things I'm thinking about as I plan the rest of the course.
At the bottom of the (long) document is an editing window. Anything you write in that space will, when you click "Submit," come to me as an anonymous email. I invite your reflection on the whole process or on any individual postings (if you respond to a specific comment, it would be helpful if you'd quote it, or from it). You can comment as often as you like, by going back to the document via the main course page. I'll add comments to the main page as they come in, and as I add my own.