ENV4001 – Environmental Systems Engineering

A1 Business and Technical College Montreal Protocol Discussion

ENV4001: Environmental Systems Engineering

Global Citizens Assignment—PEER REVIEW

The sixth part of the Global Citizens Assignment is a peer review of another group’s paper. Here are the parameters. Please read the instructions carefully.

• Each student should complete his/her review individually. This is the only part of the Global Citizens Assignment that is completed individually.

• The peer review counts for 10 points of the project grade (out of a total of 120 points). You will be graded on how well you complete the assignment (as described below).

• The idea is that both your group and the other group will benefit from this exercise. You will benefit by reading the ideas from another group, which might help you improve your own paper; the other group will benefit from reading your constructive criticism.

• Your review should take the form of a written critique, which you type up (e.g., in Microsoft Word, or other word processor of your choice). Your written critique should consist of the following six sections. Please follow these instructions exactly.

• Divide your peer review into six (6) sections and number the six sections.

1. In Section 1, include your name and the names of the group whose paper you reviewed.

2. In Section 2, provide a brief (probably about one paragraph) summary of your general opinion of the effectiveness of the paper. Were there things about it that you liked? Did it meet its intended goal? Was there something in it (either good or bad) that particularly stands out to you?

3. In Section 3, provide a numerical score (between 0 and 5, in increments of 0.5 – for example, 2.5, 3.0, 4.5) for each of the 10 writing characteristics. Refer to the ENV 4001 Writing Rubric (posted on Canvas) to help you provide the score for each characteristic.

4. In Section 4, provide a numerical score (between 0 and 3, in increments of 0.5 – for example, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5) for each of the 6 characteristics on the ABET Outcome Rubric (posted on Canvas).

5. In Section 5, for the particular characteristics that you scored the lowest (say, the two or three characteristics that you think are most in need of improvement), provide specific examples from the text that indicate why you gave the score you did.

6. In Section 6, offer suggestions – as specific as you can be – as to how the group could improve on the characteristics that you identified as most in need of improvement. I think it will probably take you about 2 pages to include all six sections, but there is no set length requirement – use as much or as little space as you require to do the job properly. Please upload your peer review to Canvas by the deadline.

• In addition to your written critique, you can choose to mark up the rough draft that you are reading. This is optional; you can earn full credit without providing the marked-up copy. If you 1 choose to mark up the rough draft by hand and then scan it, I recommend using a colored pen (not black) so that your comments are easily visible. Also, write your name (legibly) on the marked-up copy, so the group can ask you follow-up questions if they don’t understand your comments. You can return the marked-up draft directly to the group whom you are reviewing; I do not need to see it. (I will assign your grade based on your written critique, not based on the mark-up.)

• Please try to be helpful and constructive in your comments. Your goal is to help the other group improve their final product. It is not constructive to say, “this paper is a mess.” It is constructive to say, “The organization of this paper needs improvement, and I think it could best be improved by…[give suggestions, as specific as possible].” You should give your honest assessment of the work you are reading, but while being honest you should still provide your criticism in a constructive manner.

• If you think the paper needs a lot of improvement, you will help your classmates by saying so. The final paper is worth ~58% of the overall project grade, and I am not an easy grader. If you give your classmates high marks to be “nice”, but then their final paper earns a low score, then you have not actually been nice to them. The best way to help your classmates is to be tough but fair. See also the bullet point immediately above; you want to be constructive, but honest.

• If this part of the project goes well (i.e., if each student completes the assignment), then each group will receive 3 or 4 constructive reviews of their rough draft, which will help all of you produce excellent final reports.

If you have questions about the requirements…