What’s on This Webpage:
What
a Student Said That Led to the 5 Good Habits for Evidence and its Rubric
Seeing
the Rubric and Feedback Form
Like many teachers, I had used a grading rubric for a long time. I was talking with a student and trying to help him. He was involved in sports and he explained what he needed in terms of his favorite sport. He said something like this: “You are telling me what I’m doing wrong, but you are not telling how to do it right—how to hold the ball and the racket.”
I felt he was brilliant and so I tried to figure out what my teachers in public school had taught me to do that made it possible for me to avoid big errors in figuring things out or writing about reality (or at least catch my own errors before I submitted the work). At first, I had 10 good habits but I began to reduce the number bit by bit. In the end, I had:
· 5 Good Habits for Evidence so you’d know how to use evidence in a useful and safe way
·
The rubric so you could see the quality of your
work and—if you were not yet doing
evidence right—what habits you still need to change
I also got permission from my Department to try an experiment to see if
students could improve basic evidence skills and improve their grades by
splitting the grade into two parts:
- Content
- Following basics of evidence
If you think the 5 Good Habits for Evidence are just about academics, click here to see if anybody would pay you for work that did not meet the 5 Good Habits for Evidence? If no one would pay you, then why not change to habits that match the future you want?
If you think no professor or boss can see these errors or prove them, click here for what I am looking at when I grade.
This Rubric is color-coded so you can see which of the 5 Good Habits for Evidence is covered in the “F” and “D” columns:
1.
Reliable
Sources Only
Tip: Your memory or a late-night movie or what
your cousin told you is not a reliable source. The question is did the page of
the source you cited provide evidence that your statement was accurate as
written?
2.
Factual Accuracy That You Verify with the Reliable Source
Before You Write
Tip: Is this page about the question you are answering?
Would a reasonable person who used a reliable dictionary and who compared your
words with what the author wrote think you read accurately?
3.
Factual
Accuracy That Is Verifiable for Every Statement You Make
Tips: Did you cite a specific (1 page) page for
every fact in your own words and every fact in the author’s words (that is, a
quotation). Would a reasonable person who used a reliable dictionary and who
compared your words with what the author wrote think you read accurately?
4.
No
“Half-Copy” Plagiarism or “Patchwriting”
Tip: Did you just type the author’s words
without quotation marks (“”) and move them around or use the author’s sentence
structure and just swap out a few words that you think are synonyms?
5.
Quotation
Changes Revealed Clearly
Tip: Did you place in quotation marks (“”) the
author’s words but changed them without revealing those changes so that you
changed the author’s meaning or made the author’s work look grammatically
incorrect?
You must follow the 5 Good Habits for Evidence to have the possibility of making a “C” or “B” or “A.” This can help students who are trying to learn history but are inexperienced writers:
·
If you do follow the 5 Good Habits for Evidence,
you also earn the full points for Good Habits. This can raise your grade
substantially. This link provided with the Course Plan shows you how
the separate Good Habits for Evidence grade can help your grade and your
knowledge and skills in critical thinking.
Think of it this way: If you think
well and proof your own work but are not a great writer, your boss will still
want you.
·
If you do not follow the 5 Good Habits for
Evidence as marked in the “F” and “D” columns, you make only the grade for content.
Example: With a writing assignment @ 10 for content and @ 10 for the 5 Good
Habits for Evidence, if you do not follow the 5 Good Habits for Evidence, you
only earn the content grade.
o
If you had many things marked in the “F” column,
the highest you can earn is 59% of 10 or 5.9
Score: 5.9 points for content
and 0 for Good Habits for Evidence. Total 5.9 – a lower F out of 20
o
If you had many things marked in the “D” column,
the highest you can earn is 69% of 10 or 6.9
Score: 6.9 points for content
and 0 for Good Habits for Evidence. Total 6.9 – a F out of 20
Think
of it this way: If you are careless and do not proof your own
work, it will be a rare company that needs you.
The top of the form below shows how the rubric works for any writing assignment:
·
Instead of the words Writing Assignment, you could see Class Writing 1 or Analysis
of Primaries or any of a variety of assignments
·
Instead of the # symbol, you see 10 points in both places if the assignment was
worth 20 points
With a rubric used in grading a student’s paper, your instructor
fills in the underlined places at the top for the student’s name, for
the points for content, for the points for the Good Habits. Two examples are:
·
If your instructor sees dangerous habits for
evidence visible in the student’s paper.
For example, if the student did such things as quote the author’s words but
changed the meaning, the instructor underlines in the “F” column 5. Used "" inaccurately and
changed meaning. (The highest F
is 59% and 59% of 10 is 5.9.)
Score: 5.9 points for content
and 0 for Good Habits for Evidence. Total 5.9 – an F
·
If your instructor sees that the student
worked hard to follow the 5 Good Habits for Evidence but needs to improve
For example, if the student did such things as provide few examples, the
instructor underlines in the “B” column Provided few examples. (A mid-level B
is 85% and 85% of 10 is 8.5.)
Score: 8.5 points for content
and 10 for Good Habits for Evidence. Total 18.5– an A
(Notice: Students who work to follow
the 5 Good Habits for Evidence not only are practicing important skills for
their futures, but also their Total grade is about 1 grade level higher.)
Reminder of the colors: Habit 1, Habit 2, Habit 3, Habit 4, Habit 5 - As you can tell, Habit 2 and Habit 3 frequently occur together.
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Name_________________ |
Writing Assignment___ out of # points for
content. Its Good Habits for Evidence __ out of #. Total __ |
|||||||
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Requirement |
"F" Paper
Criteria |
"D" Paper
Criteria |
"C" Paper
Criteria |
"B" Paper
Criteria |
"A" Paper
Criteria |
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Reading FOR Evidence (60%) |
1: Used an unreliable source. 2: Used an incorrect or incomplete part of the source required for the
question asked. 2&3: Assumed. |
2: Misread or read passively. 3: Made errors such as cherry-picking facts or embellishing facts. |
Accurately read the parts, but did
not try to evaluate or to synthesize the interconnections. |
Accurately read the parts and
analyzed each one. Tried to evaluate and synthesize interconnections. |
Accurately read the parts and
analyzed each one. Evaluated and synthesized the interconnections. |
|
|
|
Writing WITH Evidence (30%) |
2: Did not answer all parts of the
question.
3: Did not cite accurately and according
to the directions. 5. Used "" inaccurately and
changed meaning. |
2. Wrote passively. 4. Plagiarized or did “half-copy”
plagiarism (also called “patchwrite”). |
Only summarized separately each of
the parts of the question, but did not cover interconnections. |
Revealed each part and covered
some interconnections. Provided few examples. |
Understood each part and revealed
the parts’ interconnections. Provided clear and representative examples. |
|
|
|
Following Directions for Evidence
(5%) |
Did not follow directions above or
with the questions (such as maximum length). |
Did not follow directions. |
Followed the directions. |
Followed the directions carefully.
|
Followed the directions exactly. |
|
|
|
Mechanics (Language and
Punctuation) (5%) |
Many mechanical errors. |
Several mechanical errors. |
Two or more mechanical errors. |
One or more mechanical errors. |
No more than one minor mechanical
error. |
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↓ |
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↓ |
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Grade for its Good Habits for Evidence: * 0 = If any marks in “D” or “F” columns *full points = If no
marks in “D” or “F” |
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Grade for the content: Either “C” or “B” or “A” as
marked If you made a “C” or “B” or “A,” you also had no marks in the “D” or “F” columns. |
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Click here to see the combined Rubric and Feedback form. It also explains how the instructor only enters points after you respond to feedback. This form provides a quick way to respond and to help you focus on ways you can prevent any problem. I am also glad to talk with any of you.
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Copyright
C. J. Bibus, Ed.D. 2003-2017 |
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WCJC Department: |
History – Dr. Bibus |
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Contact Information: |
281.239.1577 or bibusc@wcjc.edu |
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Last Updated: |
2017 |
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WCJC Home: |