Quick Links:
Listen to examples of Audio Feedback
See examples of written feedback
See examples of project volunteers
Students often have difficulty imagining how readers will react to their written work since they rarely hear from someone actually trying to make use of what they’ve written. By taking our students’ written work seriously and providing thoughtful feedback, our volunteers can help students learn to “write to be read.” We’ve also found that having an interested and respected reader from outside the class can be a great source of motivation for students.
Who really volunteers to be a reader?
Even in the short time since we started this project, we’ve gotten a remarkable set of volunteer readers. We currently have over 200 readers in our volunteer pool, and the list is growing. Here’s a sample:
Duke employees: Students in a first-year writing class taking up current issues in diet and nutrition science got feedback on their papers from the Director of the Rice Diet Center, the Director of the Duke Diet and Fitness Center, and the Associate Director of Graduate Medical Education, among others. Students in a computer science course got comments on a draft of a programmer’s manual from OIT’s Director of Interactive Teaching Resources, the computer support specialist for the Academic Advising Center, and an Associate Dean for Information Technology.
Alumni: Students taking an American business history course got to work with the executive editor of CIO Magazine, a lawyer specializing in immigration, labor and employment litigation, a freelance journalist specializing in business, and a lawyer specializing in banking and other financial services. In an economics course on international trade and development, a student writing a paper on former USSR countries got feedback from an alum who helped form businesses in the former Soviet Union and served as chief of mission for the International City/County Management Association office in Kazakhstan, while another student in the course worked with the World Bank’s country program coordinator for Vietnam. See more examples of readers
What kind of feedback will my students get?
There are three main interactions between students and readers: (1) the introductory meeting, (2) exchange of draft and feedback, and (3) a follow-up conversation to discuss the revised draft. For the second stage, readers are encouraged to record a kind of oral feedback called a “think-aloud response.” Hear examples of Reader Project feedback
How does this work?
The Writing in the Disciplines program guides students and readers through the series of interactions and coordinates the timing of the interactions with the course instructors. We also provide hardware (including webcams) and technical support for readers and students, so they can have web conferences and to facilitate the readers’ recording of the think-aloud responses. The Office of Alumni Affairs helps to solicit readers and to match students to readers with appropriate backgrounds.
What do instructors need to do?
Instructors who sign up with the Reader Project for the upcoming semester will work with Cary Moskovitz, Director of Writing in the Disciplines, to decide which assignment is the best fit for the project, to figure out the timing and the kinds of reader backgrounds and expertise needed, and to decide on a preferred method for matching students and volunteers. If you know of Duke alumni or employees who would make good readers, you may give us their contact information or invite them yourself and ask that they contact the project manger to sign up.
Once the course begins, the instructors will determine which of their students want to participate. There will be little more for instructors to do related to the Reader Project during the semester. When the term is over, instructors will be asked to give feedback based on their review of a sample of the feedback readers provided for their students. That’s it!
If you would like to sign up one of your courses for the Reader Project, or if you want more information, contact Cary Moskovitz at cmosk@duke.edu.
Funding for the Duke Reader Project is generously provided by The Office of Alumni Affairs, the Dean of Undergraduate Education, and Trinity
