Theory Assessment–Sociology 2311 and 2111
Explanation
As part of the departments’ effort to assess our sociology and criminology majors, we are assessing student performance in some of our core classes. This assessment will be used to help us assess (and perhaps improve) our courses, and will not impact your grade for the class. Individual professors may, however, award extra credit for completing the assessment.
Assessment Writing
Please pick any (sociological/criminological) theory that we have covered this semester and in an essay format, discuss the following:
- The social context of the theory
- The central concepts in the theory and how they relate to each other
- The policy implications of the theory
- Any underlying assumptions made (either explicitly or implicitly) by the theory.
Please limit your answer to three typed double spaced pages.
Grading Criteria / Poor(1) / Below Average
(2) / Average
(3) / Good
(4) / Excellent
(5)
Overall Organization / The essay is unclear with no organization. / The main points of the essay are ambiguous. / Writing has minimal organization and a basic thesis statement. / Writing follows a logical organization, but sometimes drifts from the thesis. / Writing is clear, logical, and very organized around a developed thesis.
Understanding of theory / concepts / Major mistakes evident regarding theory or in definition of concepts / Gist of theory correct, but some mistakes made. / Concepts and theory are correct, but only text book definitions and no elaboration. / Theory and key concepts are well defined and organized/linked properly / Concepts are clearly defined, linked where appropriate, and illustrated with examples
Social Context / The essay makes no (or incorrect) reference to social context / The essay makes only minimal (correct) reference to social context / The essay describes social context, but doesn’t connect it well to the theory / The essay explicitly ties social context with theory. / The essay ties social context with theory and elaborates on this relationship
Theoretical Assumptions / The essay fails to address assumptions of theory or does so incorrectly / The essay minimally discusses assumptions / The essay provides clear list of assumptions, but doesn’t elaborate / The essay describes assumptions, and elaborates, but doesn’t connect with concepts. / The essay describes assumptions, and elaborates, and connects with concepts.
Policy Implication / The essay fails to address policy implications or does so incorrectly / The essay minimally discusses policy implications / The essay accurately describes the policy implications / The essay describes policy implications and elaborates / The essay describes policy implications, elaborates, and ties to “real world” examples
Grammar
and Punctuation / The essay has so many basic grammar errors and punctuation errors that the essay cannot be readily understood. / The essay has many basic grammar and punctuation errors but the meaning is somewhat clear. / The essay has a few major errors and multiple minor errors, but almost all sentences are clear and understandable. / The essay has few major errors. There may be multiple minor errors as long as they do not interfere with understanding. / The essay has no major grammatical and punctuation errors and very few minor errors. Any minor errors do not interfere with the understanding of the essay.