Emilia Illana Mahiques

Emilia Mahiques is a teaching assistant and a Ph.D. student in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Iowa. She understands the importance of the peer review process, and by using Turnitin’s PeerMark, Emilia has worked to instill this knowledge in the graduate students and the second language learners with whom she works:

“Writers are not alone when they write… Every time you read a research article, it is peer reviewed; every time you read a book, it is peer-reviewed. Peer review is not different from writing, it is all the same thing. So we talk about this [with our students]… how a peer review [creates] feedback loops, essentially, that push you to be more innovative.”

The University of Iowa places a heavy emphasis on academic integrity and originality when it comes to producing content. Original writing is more than just a university policy, and Emilia has attended and helps to run various workshops with Turnitin to help students understand what thoughtful feedback looks like, as well as discourage them from using shortcuts that would undermine their second language development.

Within the burgeoning Language and Writing Center of the University of Iowa. In addition, the Language Media Center offers support to university instructors like Emilia, not only on technology issues but also on pedagogical applications, allowing teachers to demonstrate how technology tools like Turnitin can enhance educational goals.