QUARTER-LONG PROJECT

Week 4: Beginning the Peer Review Process

There is no specific deliverable for this week, however you should use this week to begin the peer review process for the preliminary proposals. Early this week I will send an email letting you know which two other student's proposals you have been assigned to review. Begin by looking at the two proposals you have been assigned to review as posted on the 'Project Initial Proposal discussion board' (you can get to this by clicking on 'Previous' above). Then, simply post your comments as a response to the assigned project proposal message. Your peer reviews are due by the end of Week 5. (Although you are welcome to post them at any point between now and then.)

You should consider the following aspects in writing comments for the authors of the proposals:

Are the goals reasonable and achievable? It is a common mistake to aim too high and attempt to do too much. Suggest possible amendments to the proposals' aims that might make them more achievable in the time frame.
Are the data adequate for the task proposed? Do you foresee problems in obtaining or organizing the data? Suggest how these problems could be avoided.
Are the proposed analysis methods appropriate? Suggest alternative methods, or enhancements to the proposed methods that would also help.
Provide any additional input that you feel is appropriate. This could include suggestions for additional outputs (e.g., maps) not specifically mentioned by the author, or suggestions as to further data sources, relevant things to read, relevant other examples to look at, and so on.

Remember... you will be receiving two reviews from other students of your own proposal, so you should include the types of useful feedback that you would like to see in those commentaries. Criticism is fine, provided that it includes constructive inputs and suggestions. If something is wrong, how can it be fixed?

Meanwhile, I will be reviewing the preliminary proposals, and providing each of you with feedback and suggestions. I will aim to complete my reviews and mail them to you this week.

Questions?

If you have any questions now or at any point during this project, please feel free to post them to the Quarter-long Project Discussion Forum. (That Discussion Forum can be accessed at any time by clicking on the In Touch tab, above, and then scrolling down to the Discussion Forums section.)