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Writing Across the Curriculum |
At the beginning of each semester, students often spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out exactly what their professors want. They may seem confused or uncertain about what constitutes a good paper or an acceptable response to an assignment. As professors, we can help students gain a better understanding of our expectations by providing them with clear evaluative criteria. We can do this in several ways: by providing models of student responses to previous assignments or by supplying scoring guides and/or analytic scales. Following are several suggestions that you might find useful as you think about ways to articulate your grading standards. Models Models can be very useful teaching tools, especially when you are introducing students to a new kind of writing task. We can't always assume, for example, that students know what a lab report, a persuasive essay, or a research proposal is supposed to look like, never mind what components are necessary to make the document effective. You may find it helpful to begin saving models of student responses to your assignments, both good examples as well as bad, to be used in subsequent semesters. Following are some suggestions on using these models in class. 1. When you assign a writing task, share a model of a good response to the same (or similar) assignment on an overhead projector with the class. Ask students to identify the key elements in the text. Have them list or discuss in small groups those things in the writing which make the paper work especially well. Have the groups report back to the class for a fuller discussion. This activity helps students better understand the demands of the assignment. 2. Once the class has identified those things in the text which have worked well, place a less effective response up on the screen. Ask the class, in small groups, to identify the problems in the text. Have them talk about ways the writer could have improved the writing. Have each group report back to the class as a whole. Remind the students to look for these problems and strengths in their own writing. This activity helps students become more effective critical readers as well as writers. One side effect you may notice
as you give students the opportunity to talk together in these small groups
is that students become more actively involved in their own learning. Moreover,
they receive much needed practice listening, speaking, negotiating ideas.
As their confidence levels rise and they realize that each of the groups
may bring a different perspective to the conversation, students begin to
understand that questions often have more than one right answer.
These experiences and realizations often translate into more effective
learning and writing for everyone involved.
Scoring Guides Example One In addition to models, scoring guides can be very helpful to students as they plan their responses to your assignment. As professors, we usually have such a clear picture in their heads of what an "A" paper should look like that we sometimes don't stop to think that students haven't a clue about what's expected. Scoring guides can help them understand what elements their papers should include. The first example below is a scoring guide that might be used in a writing class, but it is also suitable for almost any class in which papers are due. As you read it, notice the hierarchical structure of the five categories this professor has employed. As a reader, she looks first for the central idea, checking to see if the essay has one clear point. Then she moves on to organization, support, etc. As this professor reads, she pays attention to more global concerns before she comments on surface errors. As she explains, these surface features are important, but she sees little point, for example, in marking spelling errors until the student has addressed larger content issues. In other words, while she expects final drafts to be carefully proofread, she sees this as an end stage editing concern. Following is the scoring guide she hands out to her students. Evaluation Criteria These evaluation criteria have
two purposes: (1) to help you identify both the strengths and the weaknesses
of your writing and (2) to help clarify the grading standards which will
be applied to your written work. Your papers will be evaluated in
terms of five categories:
The "A" (Excellent) Paper 1. Central idea: clearly defined, insightful, and appropriate for audience and purpose 2. Organization/Coherence: Paragraphing which reflects clear, logical, and smooth development of the central idea 3. Support: Full and clear explanation of ideas supported with relevant and specific detail 4. Diction/Sentence Structure: Appropriate and fresh word choice, smooth and varied sentence construction 5. Grammar/Punctuation/Spelling: Only rare or isolated errors The "B" (Good) Paper In terms of the first four categories, the "B" paper is similar to the "A" paper, except that it does not have some of the distinguishing marks of the "A" paper. For instance, the central idea of the "B" paper, although defined and appropriate, lacks the insight of the "A" paper. Or the support in a "B" paper, although relatively full and specific, is not as extensive or varied as in the "A" paper. Both the "B" and the "A" paper, however, contain only rare or isolated errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling. The "C" (Satisfactory) Paper The "C" paper adequately fulfills its purpose. It has a central idea and a recognizable organizational structure. And it contains, at most, only isolated errors in grammar and punctuation, with only occasional misspellings. Despite these strengths, the "C" paper is noticeably limited in at least one of the first four categories. For instance, the central idea may be too general or its organization may lack some necessary transitions, or its support may be insufficient in places. The "D" Paper The "D" paper is seriously weak in at least one of the five categories. For example, its central idea may be very loosely defines, or it may contain occasional serious errors in grammar and punctuation, or frequent misspellings, or its support may often be vague. In no case, however, does the "D" paper have any of the severe deficiencies noted in the following description of the "F" paper. The "F" Paper The "F" paper has one or more of the following characteristics: No recognizable central idea or No clearly defined or apparent plan of development or Disunified or incoherent paragraphs or Consistently vague and non-specific support or Consistently inaccurate or inappropriate word choices or Frequently awkward sentence structure or Frequent
errors, both major and minor, in grammar, punctuation, and spelling
Example Two While the above scoring guide may would be useful in a writing class, it may not be suitable for classes which give different sorts of assignments. For example, following is a scoring guide that has proved useful in Business Writing classes, in which students practice writing letters and documents which represent the company. It comes to us from Professor Virginia Polanski of Stonehill College. Criteria for all written work: A = The company would be delighted to send this document. It communicates your message in a superior way. It is more distinctive than the ordinary acceptable message. It is error free. B = The company would send this message. It communicates your message effectively, even though it is not distinctive. It is error free. C = The company would be unwilling to send this document. Although it is acceptable in many respects, it must be disqualified for one major difficulty or several minor ones. Some editing or proofreading would make it acceptable. D = The company would not send this document and would question the competence of the writer. F = The company would not send this document and would consider terminating the employment of its writer. Clearly, these two scoring guides
are very different, but they each meet the needs of their class.
Each discipline, each class, in fact each assignment, might call for context-specific
scoring guides useful only in that particular situation. What's important
here is to remember that students need concrete guidelines which clearly
delineate our expectations. Sharing our evaluative criteria with
students can help them respond to our assignments more effectively.
Dichotomous and Analytic Scales Dichotomous and analytic scales allow you to identify specific strengths and weaknesses in a piece of writing fairly quickly. They are especially useful when you have a large amount of papers to read at one time. To use these, you'll need to set up a series of sub-scores dedicated to areas you consider important. Dichotomous Scales Here is an example of a dichotomous
scale that might be used in a writing class. As with the scoring
guides, you'll need to devise a scale that specifically meets the needs
of your particular class and assignment.
SUBSTANCE YES NO ___ ___ 1. Paper addresses the issue ___ ___ 2. Paper has a clear focus/central idea ___ ___ 3. Paper develops main idea with concrete examples ORGANIZATION ___ ___ 4. Structure or pattern of the paper is clear ___ ___ 5. Clear introduction, development, conclusion ___ ___ 6. Each paragraph is coherent ___ ___ 7. Logical transitions between ideas EVIDENCE ___ ___ 8. Statements are accurate ___ ___ 9. Opinions are adequately supported ___ ___ 10. Sources are identified and documented MECHANICS ___ ___ 11. Sentence structure is correct ___ ___ 12. Sentences are varied ___ ___ 13. Phrasing smooth, not awkward ___ ___ 14. Errors in verb use ___ ___ 15. Errors in use of pronouns ___ ___ 16. Errors in word usage ___ ___ 17. Punctuation errors ___ ___ 18. Spelling errors Analytic Scales Following is an example of an analytic scale which might be used in a writing class. Key: 1=superior
2=good 3=satisfactory 4=needs improvement
5=poor
1. SUBSTANCE A. Focus 1 2 3 4 5 B. Development 1 2 3 4 5 2. EVIDENCE A. Accuracy 1 2 3 4 5 B. Support 1 2 3 4 5 C. Documentation 1 2 3 4 5 3. ORGANIZATION A. Structure 1 2 3 4 5 B. Coherence 1 2 3 4 5 C. Paragraphing 1 2 3 4 5 4. MECHANICS A. Grammar 1 2 3 4 5 B. Sentence structure 1 2 3 4 5 C. Spelling 1 2 3 4 5 D.
Punctuation
1 2
3 4
5
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