Using Mind Maps for Peer Review

Tim Turner
RHE 309S
Critical Reading and Persuasive Writing
Fall 2009

Overview

Working in groups of 2-3, students generate reverse outlines of their own and their peers' papers as Mind Maps using Nova Mind. They compare the Mind Map they made of their own paper to the Mind Maps of the paper created by their peers. After reviewing the differences, they post their own Mind Maps as a jpeg to the blog, and write a description of how they plan to change their paper in light of what they learned.

Goals Supported

This assignment helps students with the writing process, with organizational skills using reverse outlining, and visualizing their arguments using Mind Mapping technology.

How This Lesson Meets the Goals

The assignment gives students the opportunity to practice reverse outlining and think structurally about their own and others' writing, to practice using Mind Mapping technology, to collaborate with one another in the writing process, and to generate an informal project on which the instructor can provide feedback (in blog comments).

Length of Assignment

One or two class periods.

Materials Needed

• Computer classroom and Nova Mind software; course web site with student blogs.

Preparatory Steps

1. Ideally, students will already be familiar with Nova Mind from previous use of it in class, or at least from instructor demonstrations. The basic steps they need to know are how to create a map and how to create "child branches."
2. Break students into pairs or groups (probably no more than 3) and have them trade papers.
3. Instruct students to create a Mind Map of each paper they review. Tell them that they cannot consult with the paper's author while they create the Mind Map; they must generate the reverse outline based on their own sense of what the paper does.
4. Have students place the thesis statement in the heart of the Mind Map, then create a child branch for the topic sentence of each paragraph. They must decide what sentence/s to use.
5. For each child branch, have them specify the evidence used in the paper to support the topic sentence. In this case, they will create another layer of child branches.
6. When they are finished, have them export the Map to a jpeg.
7. After reviewing their peers' papers, have them create a similar outline of their own paper.
8. Once everyone is finished, have everyone distribute the Mind Maps they created to the appropriate author.
9. Have students review and compare their own map with the ones they receive from their peers. Then have them post their own maps as a jpeg on their blogs, and include a discussion of what they learned about how others read their papers from this exercise. Ask them to explain what they will change about their papers in the revision process based on this experience.

Evaluation

It will be graded on a completion basis (in my class, participation in each peer review session counts for 5% of the final grade).