by Renad Hamouda
No matter how confident we may be in our work, it still is nice to have someone look it over. But sometimes, we do not have the time for it as AUS students and as professors (especially if it is a 30-page research paper).
Though we can use online editing software, some of the most prominent being Grammarly, Hemingway, and Ginger, we cannot trust the editing quality and to what extent they assess our errors.
So when I heard that our very own English department developed an editing software called Auto-Peer, I just had to know more. Thankfully, they held a workshop on the 28th of October, talking all about it.
So what does it do?
It identifies numerous writing issues ranging from simple punctuation errors to more complex syntactic and structural errors.
It allows you to modify your text or justify your reasoning for writing the way you have. By the way, this function is not an option available in Grammarly and other online editing software.
Interestingly, after using it, your professors and instructors will receive your responses to the automated review. This, too, is a unique function of Auto-Peer.
It does all this for free -you do not need to pay over 200AED to use its services- which is a significant benefit.
Why does it send our responses?
Well, our professors did not just create Auto-Peer to correct your errors. It aims to improve your writing in the long run.
By having that information readily available, our professors will highlight the common issues found in our writing. And if need be, reteach specific aspects of academic writing or explain grammar rules.
Our professors may also use the data collected for research purposes. It will show our faculty what aspects of writing are missing and which ones are not critical to the writing process. Knowing this will help them better their teaching practices and reevaluate the essays and projects that they assign.
Want to see it in action? Here is the link to the website: https://autopeer.wixsite.com/auto-peer
