The innovative Duke Reader Project, unique to Duke, is designed to help students develop their writing and reasoning skills by getting feedback on a class writing project.
This feedback comes from a Duke alum or Duke employee volunteer who has the professional background to give them feedback on drafts of the assignment from the perspective of a member of the target audience for that writing.
One of the courses this semester, supported under an NSF education grant, is BIO 274: Human Evolutionary Genomics. Undergraduate students in this class will be writing grant proposals (the kind used to fund original research). For this class, the projects needs volunteers with basic knowledge of genetics and molecular biology, with applications to either anthropology or medicine who can give students feedback on drafts of their grant proposals from their perspective as a knowledgeable professional. Volunteers don't need to be accomplished writers themselves, just experienced professionals in the field.
For BIO 274, anyone with at least 10 years of experience in medical science with a working knowledge of basic genetics could be a great reader. The Duke Reader Project offers members of the Duke community the opportunity to be involved with a Duke undergrad, helping them develop critical writing and scientific reasoning skills.
Readers are asked to comment on drafts in terms of how well the student's text works: Does it include useful information for you? Is the analysis and argument compelling? What parts are presented according to professional norms, and which part not?
Volunteer commitment is around 5 hours total over the course of the semester, disctributed between early October through the end of the term.