Professor Lora Larkin
Assignment Rubric
REMINDER: NO LATE ASSIGNMENT BINDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
Assignments, in or out-of-class, are generally graded on a 10 point scale, regardless of the required length of the task. Your overall semester grade is based on weighted points; therefore, percentages rather than points, will determine your overall semester grade (for example: 10pts=100%, 9.5pts=95%, etc.). Each assignment will be scored based on the following categories worth a maximum of 2 points each (0=no evidence; 1=minimal evidence; 2=clear evidence provided):
Please be sure to review these categories EACH TIME prior to submittal.
A. Format/Presentation
Is your work clean, neat, and legible? If your paper was typed, did you double space and use 1” margins and 12-point font size?
B. Clarity of Thought
Was your work organized into paragraphs, each containing a separate idea or support for the main idea? Did you spell correctly? Does your paper contain grammatical mistakes? Is it easy for a reader to follow your organization?
C. Inclusion of Chapter Concepts
Did you include relevant terms and content from your text? Did you define the term and/or explain the chapter concept? Did you reference the source (in-text & bibliography)
D. Personal Application
Did you provide an example to clarify your understanding of the question or discussion topic? Did you relate your ideas to a personal experience or to your class experience? Wasyour example relevant to the discussion?
E. Self-critique/Planning
Did you identify a communication skill or area of communication that you would like to improve on or class content that you did not understand or would like to explore further? Did you identify a plan for practice or ways of improving on that skill or acquiring that knowledge?
Name
Class
Date
Chapter #
This is an example of the formatting I would like you to use for typing up your assignment papers. Notice that your name and course information is only single-spaced, but the remainder of the document is double-spaced. Notice also that the margins are set at 1” around the entire document (top, bottom, left, and right), and the font is set at 12-point.
Each of your papers should include an introduction, body, and conclusion paragraph just as you would write a paper for an English class. The only difference is that our topic areas will focus on communication skills or a discussion of concepts in communication, utilizing the discussion/reflection questions listed earlier in your syllabus. As with any paper, you must write in paragraph format, including indentation (tab) at the beginning of each paragraph.
Furthermore, to assist you with relating the assignments to chapter concepts, you are required to reference your text and/or other sources within the body of your paper and again in a bibliography. For example, Figure 1.4 of your text gives an example of the steps and a description of how to write a communication improvement plan which is Part E (Self-critique/Planning) of your assignment rubric to address to increase your chances of receiving maximum credit for your assignment (VerderberVerderber, 2013).
Finally, as with any paper, not only must you show clear evidence of organization and planning (think of an outline), but also demonstrate that you have thoroughly proofread your paper for spelling, punctuation, and grammatical mistakes. Proofreading your paper aloud can be quite helpful for this. Be sure to also review APA style referencing (link provided on the BC library homepage) for your in-text citations (see the example of citing your text in paragraph 3 of this document). Don’t worry about including title pages, abstracts, or running heads (title of your assignment appearing on each page), though I know that is also a part of APA referencing. On the next page, you will find an example of how to format a bibliography and reference your text in APA style. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Bibliography
Verderber, K.S. & Verderber, R.F. (2013).Inter-Act: Interpersonal Communication – Concepts, Skills, and Contexts (13thed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.