Effective Peer Review Strategies for Improving Writing

ICS 139W Critical Writing on Information Technology Lecture 2 Emily Navarro Duplication of course material for any commercial purpose without the explicit written permission of the professor is prohibited

Todays Lecture Peer review Oral presentation techniques Oral presentation review guidelines Influencing Policy assignment

Peer Review

Peer Review: Why? It is easier to learn to improve other peoples writing before applying the same principles to your own You will learn to see how others read your work when they are confused, bored, or distracted One person s reaction might be strange, but when a group reacts the same way, it is easier to accept flaws

Ideal Comments Provide evidence of events happening in the reader s mind Are specific Give concrete suggestions for improvement

Examples It was good.

Examples It was good. I felt the most important idea of the second paragraph was to highlight the teamwork skills from the author s past work experiences.

Examples Some of it was good, but I didn t understand other parts.

Examples Some of it was good, but I didn t understand other parts. At the end of paragraph A, I was happy, but by the time I got to sentence 3 of paragraph B, where it says that a machine register has a weight that is equal to the number of resources it consumes, I felt that I no longer understood what was going on. Perhaps the author should omit the low-level details here and expand more on how the experience in paragraph A shaped her.

Examples It was confusing.

Examples It was confusing. I don t understand the distinction between an argument and a parameter. It would be helpful if the author clearly defined each term before using it.

Oral Presentation Techniques

Oral Presentations Important part of your education, future career, and your personal growth as an effective communicator Public speaking: number one fear, over death Nervousness should abate over time with practice

Some Examples https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YivQYeI0vys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kql-pvnid0s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck5vVU8qQW A

Dimensions of Oral Presentation Linguistic behavior Non-verbal behavior Organization Visual aids

Linguistic Behavior DO DON T Rate of speech Slow down Use pauses Speed through Intonation Speak up Use inflections Be monotone Verbal mannerisms (um, you know, like) Vary your transitional phrases Use them Response to audience questions Listen and thoughtfully respond Be dismissive

Non-Verbal Behavior DO DON T Gestures Use them to add emphasis Death grip the lectern Movement Vary your position Be frozen Facial expressions, mannerisms Practice and watch for these Use distracting mannerisms Eye contact Focus on individuals for a few seconds at a time Pass your gaze over the room Apparent comfort Try to appear comfortable Let them see your nervousness

Organization Structure in sections Go through main points before during and after Use effective redundancy Finish with a satisfying conclusion

Visual Aids Effective slides are visual If something can be made a picture, then do it use bullets, not full sentences Each item no more than two lines use a consistent layout use minimal text have plenty of white space

Visual Aids (II) A presentation is about what speaker has to say, not what can be read from slides Slides should help audience understand material, not remind speaker of what to say

Visual Aids (II) A presentation is about what speaker has to say, not what can be read from slides Slides should help audience understand material, not remind speaker of what to say Do not simply read your slides!

When preparing slides It is generally not good practice to create long strings of text in complete sentences and then either read them to the audience or expect the audience to read the text and listen to you say different words at the same time. They will end up either reading the slide and tuning you out, or tuning both out because text processing is sequential. If all of the information is on the slide, then they don t need you anyway. Use brief bullets to illustrate points Talk to fill in the needed information

When preparing slides Use large, clear, readable font Use large, clear, readable font Use large, clear, readable font Use large, clear, readable font Use large, clear, readable font Use large, clear, readable font Use large, clear, readable font

What is wrong with this slide? Clases in UML appear as rectanlges with multiple sections. The first section contains its name (defines a type) and the second section contains the class s attributes the third section contains the class s methids. Classes can be related in a variety of ways: Inheritance, association (with multiplicity optional), whole-part (agregation and composition), qualification, and interfaces. In inheritence, one class extends another and it is notated by a a white triangle points to the superclass. The subclass can add attributes and it can also add behaviors or override existing ones. With asociation one class can reference another and this is shown by a straight line drawn between classes. Also, roles can be asociated with the classes that take part in an association, shown by text on the line close to the boxes. Associations can be labeled in order to convey semantic meaning to the readers of the UML diargam. In addition to roles and labels, associations can also have multiplicity annotations, which indicates how many instances of a class participate in an association. Associations can indicate the number of instances involved in the relationship. This is known as multiplicity. An association with no markings is one to one. An association can also indicate diretcionality. If so, it indicates that the knowledge of the relationship is not bidirectional. Asociations can also convey semantic information about themselves. In particular, agregations indicate that one object contains a set of other objects. Agregation is indicated with a white diamond attached to the class playing the container role.

Better Classes in UML appear as rectangles with multiple sections Class Name Class Name Attribute : Type Attribute : Type Operation (parameter) : Return Type Class Attributes Operation (parameter) : Return Type Operation (parameter) : Return Type Class Methods

Colors Use visible colors Use colors for emphasis Contrast with background Avoid light on light Avoid dark on dark

Animation Use animation sparingly, if at all Distracts from your talk Should add something to your talk

Other Important Points Know your material Know your audience Be yourself Practice Don t apologize Expect nervousness

Oral Presentation Review Guidelines

Oral Presentation Review: Purpose Two ways to become a better writer: Practice Critique others work Each time we have oral presentations, we will also peer review them

Oral Presentation Review: Logistics During/after presentation, write down comments Include both your name and speaker s name After presentation, give comments to speaker After speaker reads them, give them to TA Comments count toward your participation grade Comment on at least 3 speakers per presentation class session Next lecture: oral presentations on system changes

Oral Presentation Review Guidelines Linguistic behavior See earlier slide Non-verbal behavior See earlier slide

Oral Presentation Review Guidelines (cont.) Organization and content Can you follow the speaker s train of thought? Are the speaker s facts accurate? How well does the speaker appear to understand the topic? Do you agree with the speaker s conclusions? Visual aids (when used) How effective are the slides? How does the speaker interact with the slides?

Oral Presentation Reviews Other Points Point out what part(s) of the presentation went well Provide constructive criticism

Influencing Policy Assignment

Basic Idea Learning to write persuasively Improves your critical thinking Improves your reasoning/logic Improves your ability to weigh evidence and make decisions Write a persuasive letter to a policy maker about changing policy Take a position Recommend some action Back it up

Topic Choose an issue: that involves technology that you care about that you know about

Topic Ideas Email spam Privacy Objectionable material on the Internet Internet sales tax The Right to be Forgotten The NSA and its collection of phone call metadata Net neutrality

Recipient An appropriate policy maker New law / support or oppose proposed legislation Member of congress Executive branch action Head of appropriate branch (e.g., Justice Department regarding an antitrust suit) Move public opinion President (veto legislation), editor of newspaper Address your letter properly DO NOT send your letter to an employee at a private company Make sure your topic concerns public policy

First Steps Write a five- to ten-line outline List the supporting points and conclusion like a syllogism Turn this in with each revision Write your letter Based on the outline

Syllogism A three-part logical argument Major premise All birds are animals. Minor premise All parrots are birds. Conclusion All parrots are animals. Each part expressed as Some/all/no A is/are [not] B

Valid or Fallacious? Some cats are black. Some televisions are black. Some televisions are cats.

Valid or Fallacious? Some cats are black. Some televisions are black. Some televisions are cats. FALLACIOUS

Valid or Fallacious? All Texans are Americans. No Californians are Texans. No Californians are Americans.

Valid or Fallacious? All Texans are Americans. No Californians are Texans. No Californians are Americans. FALLACIOUS

Valid or Fallacious? No lazy people pass exams. Some students pass exams. Some students are not lazy.

Valid or Fallacious? No lazy people pass exams. Some students pass exams. Some students are not lazy. VALID

Valid or Fallacious? No healthy food is fattening. All cakes are fattening. No cakes are healthy.

Valid or Fallacious? No healthy food is fattening. All cakes are fattening. No cakes are healthy. VALID

Valid or Fallacious? The evidence says one thing. The conclusion says another. The evidence is false.