Geography 417: California for Educators

Writing Assignment Rubric

Below is a grading rubric. I will use this to evaluate the written component of your assignments. Students who score fives on all categories will have a 100% score on the paper. To print the rubric, set your printer to print in “landscape” form and print only the page with the rubric displayed.

Student #
Score	5	4	3	2
Organization	Paper is well organized	Paper's organization has only minor disruptions	Paper is not well organized making logical flow of the argument difficult to follow	Paper is very disorganized making it impossible to understand author's intent.
	Thesis statement is clearly articulated	Thesis statement is only slightly inappropriate to actual argument	Thesis is statement is not easily understood or is confusing	Thesis statement is not viable, does not address issue or is not present.
Readability	Surficial distractions (poor grammar, syntax, spelling and mechanical problems) are very few.	Surficial distractions occasionally interfere with reading	Surficial distractions interfere with reading on multiple occasions, undermining author’s argument.	Surficial distractions interfere with reading constantly, impeding understanding.
Tone	Tone is confident and scholarly	Tone is not consistently confident or scholarly throughout the paper.	Tone is not appropriate to collegiate environment, juvenile.	Tone is rushed and sloppy. Contains excessive slang or is overly conversational.
Accuracy	Claims made by the author are free from inaccuracies	Author's work contains only few or minor inaccuracies	Author's work contains multiple or major inaccuracies	Author's work contains outright fabrications or serious inaccuracies
Persuasiveness	Student addresses the question or assigned issue forthrightly and completely	Student demonstrates understanding of important issues but omits minor issues	Student only superficially addresses issues contained in assignment	Student does not address the assignment.
	Student uses multiple and appropriate examples to support argument	Student uses few examples or some inappropriate examples to support argument	Student uses only a single example to support argument, or uses inappropriate examples	Student uses no examples or wholly inappropriate examples to support argument.
Appropriateness Graphics	Student makes appropriate use of research material, using it to support argument, citing it correctly. **WHERE APPROPRIATE Graphics are excellent	Student occasionally misuses research material, uses research material sparingly. Some inappropriate used of material. Graphics are good	Student frequently misuses research material, uses material sparingly, cites material inappropriately. Too much internet Graphics are poor/inappropriate	Student plagiarizes material, fails to cite research material or uses no research material. Graphics are missing or misleading
	Student uses a geographic/historic perspective effectively in understanding issue, explaining issue. Meets assignment.	Student uses geographic/historic perspective to demonstrate understanding issue or support argument. Meets assignment	Student inappropriately uses geographic/historic perspective to understand issue or explain position Partially meets assignment	Student fails to use a geographic/ historic perspective in understanding issue or support position. Does not meet assignment
Knowledge	Student demonstrates mastery of conceptual issues contained in assignment	Student demonstrates understanding of conceptual issues presented by assignment	Student demonstrates minimal understanding of conceptual issues presented by assignment	Student demonstrates no understanding of conceptual issues presented by assignment

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