Research Paper: Debriefing Form

Essay/Paper Debriefing Form
Course ____________________________________________________________________
Essay/Paper __________________________________________________________________
Due Date _________________________________________________________________
Grade _____________________________________________________________________
Part 01: Preparation Techniques
Which of the following strategies were used to prepare your essay/paper?
In-class Prewriting ______
Out-of-class Prewriting ______
If you completed any prewriting, what type of prewriting? Web/Cluster/Idea Map____________ List______________ Freewrite___________ Other____________
Outline(s)______
Research______
If you completed research for the essay or paper, describe your
research process here.
Did you go to the library? Yes If so, when?________ No
Did you ask a librarian for help? Yes If so, who? _________ No
Did you conduct interviews? Yes No
Did you mostly research on your own on the Internet? Yes No
Editing_____
If you edited your essay or paper before submitting it, what did you primarily try to fix?
Word Choice______
Punctuation_______ What type of punctuation? ______________________________
Spelling_______
Other Mechanical Issues (capitalization
Revising_____
If you revised before submitting your essay/paper, what did aspects of the writing did you revise?
Sentence construction_________
Thesis________
Organization_______
Content/ideas_______
Source usage______
Documentation_____
Did you consult with other people while writing your essay/paper? Yes No
If yes, with whom?
Tutors______ When? _______________
Teacher_______ When? ______________
Classmates______ When?_____________
Other_______ Who?_______________
Which of the strategies helped the most?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Which of the strategies helped the least?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How many hours were spent composing and revising the essay/paper?
Reading Assignments ______
Prewriting and/or Outlining ______
Editing ______
Revising ______
Other ______
TOTAL ______
How far in advance did essay/paper preparation begin?
_______________________
Did you give yourself plenty of time to prepare the paper in case of computer or printer problems? ____________________
Did you feel confident about the essay/paper, or did writing anxiety affect the essay/paper? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Part 02: Essay/Paper Feedback
What feedback did you receive from your instructor about your essay/paper?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Go through all of the comments on your essay or paper, and code them in the following manner:
Green=comments about the organization of your
essay/paper
Blue=comments about the development of the content or ideas, including the thesis
Red=comments about the research, usage of sources, or documentation
Orange=comments about sentence construction and/or writing style, including word choice and sentence structure
Yellow=comments about punctuation, spelling, and mechanics
After coding the comments in your paper, what patterns do you see? Do you have more comments about certain aspects of the writing than others?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interpret your instructor’s comments. Then, answer the following questions.
Are you allowed to revise this paper? Yes No
If so, what do you need to revise for this paper? What will you revise first, second, third, and so on? If you are not allowed to revise this paper, what areas of future papers do you need to concentrate upon to make sure you don’t have similar comments? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Make at least three recommendations for changes you can make in your writing habits so you can be more successful writing future papers.
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Adapted from the “Exam Debriefing[->0]” from the Muskingum College Learning Strategies Database. Accessed 09 December 2011.

[->0] - http://www.muskingum.edu/~cal/database/general/examdeb.html