Getting Started: An Introduction to Good Habits for Evidence |
What’s on This
Webpage:
Issue 2: Why Does It Matter
That Nobody Would Pay Someone for Those Habits of Work
Issue 3: How Does My Way of
Grading Lets Me See Like an Expert –and Prove It
Issue 4: Why Does WCJC Making
History a “Gateway” Have a Consequence on This Course
Issue 5: Getting Permission
for an Experiment in Helping Students
Issue 7: Looking at 5 Student
Examples from the Link “If You Missed One of the Questions”
If You Are Unsure of the
Meaning of Some Words
The 5 Good Habits for
Evidence (Also Used in Grading All Essays)
Factual Accuracy That You
Verify with the Reliable Source Before You Write
Factual Accuracy That Is
Verifiable for Every Statement You Make
No Plagiarism or “Half-Copy”
Plagiarism
Quotation Changes Revealed
Clearly
The percentages of students not recognizing the need for factual accuracy is a key issue: over 63% through Fall 2013. Students who plagiarize (and read passively because they think copying words is what we want them to do) also frequently make factual errors.
What Students Identified That They Did Not Realize Prior to Feedback on Their
Written Work |
Percent |
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Spring 2011 |
Fall 2011 |
Spring 20121 |
Fall 2013 |
|
Need for reliable sources, including not relying on their memories |
42% |
50% |
46.7% |
63.7% |
No plagiarism |
52% |
61% |
51% |
48.3% |
No changes to another’s words without showing the changes |
46% |
42% |
40.2 |
33.7%2 |
Need for factual accuracy |
63% |
65% |
67.3% |
67.2% |
No assumptions about the author believing what you believe |
53% |
40% |
48% |
56.8% |
Need to know where you found facts |
57% |
44% |
53% |
56.8% |
1 Data for most terms from Spring 2012 to Fall 2013 is
available, but has not been calculated.
2 Numbers are slightly lower perhaps because 2 classes included
students who had previously taken the U.S. History I course.
1. Habits of work of someone who is or is trying to be an expert
2. The role of the expert:
· A boss is an expert – one who might give you a job
· A professor in a university – one who might give you a reference
Grade together all the papers that answered the same question
Place side-by-side the source (turned to the probable pages the student used) and the student’s paper
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Turn to the page of the source that the student says he or she was using 4 |
20 |
21 |
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Fact
1, p. 21.
Fact
1, fact 2. p. 25 Fact,
p. 56 |
Place all of the papers on a single question and grade them one by one. 3 |
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Some reasons:
· 25% writing is the minimum amount of the course
· Required for some degree programs
· History is real and it is a system like biology (something hard to learn)
The experiment:
·
25% writing is the minimum amount of the course
permitted
40 for Unit 1 + 40 for Unit 2 + 100 for the Major Essay + 30 for the Unit
Discussion work = 210
· 10 for “ + 10 for “ + 20 = 40
· 210 + 40 = 250 -- or 25% of our 1000 point course
How does it work?
The rubric determines the Good Habits for Evidence grade with each written assignment you do:
· Unit 1 Essays (40 points for 2 essays at 20 points each) and a Good Habits for Evidence grade of 10
· Unit 2 Essays (40 points for 2 essays at 20 points each) and a Good Habits for Evidence grade of 10
· Major Essay at 100 points with a Good Habits for Evidence grade of 20
The whole reason for the points
for the Good Habits for Evidence is—if you have habits like these—to help you walk away from bad habits and
choose ones that will help you learn history—and anything else that is real
that you have to learn (like things for a job). If you practice the Good Habits
for Evidence, you earn points to help
your grade while you are developing new and good habits.
This chart shows how the points for the Good Habits for Evidence are determined.
What the Marked
Rubric Shows |
Unit 1 or 2
Essays |
Major Essay |
If plagiarism from the Internet |
0 |
0 |
If 2 or more problems in D and/or F column |
2 |
4 |
If 1 relatively minor problem in D or F columns |
4 |
8 |
If nothing is marked in the D or F column, the full 10 (or 20) points. |
10 |
20 |
If you want to see a larger
rubric, click here for an Excel version
of a Rubric for a Unit 1 Essay worth
20 Points Each
To stress this: If nothing is marked in the D or F column, the full 10 (or 20) points. Some
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1. If you do not want to do any writing, that is your choice.
2. To do any of the written work, you have to click on the Acknowledgement Quiz for this Introduction to Good Habits for Evidence to be able to see either of the Unit 1 and Unit 2 Essays or the Major Essay. It is worth 20 points,
3. You can choose to go through the resources in the Good Habits for Evidence folder and earn 20 points extra credit. I’ll be glad to talk with you as well.
4. If you do not practice the Good Habits for Evidence on one of the writing assignments, the syllabus explains how your grade will be a temporary grade of 1.11 until you deal with the issue. (I also can be wrong and with evidence we can figure that out.)
This webpage covers the 5 things used in grading your evidence about history. For each of the 5 Good Habits for Evidence, you have these resources:
· Immediately under the name of the Good Habit for Evidence, a link to the question a student answered. I have color-coded highlights to show what the student did incorrectly with the source
· A table that repeats the words in the answer you saw in the quiz, that covers “What’s Required for This Course,” and—if you want more tips or supporting information—a link for that.
Try looking at least the 1st student example—the one on the requirement to use Reliable Sources.
On the other hand, if you just want to look at the absolute minimum to start to build better habits, read carefully the part of the table with the label “What’s Required for This Course” for each of the 5 Good Habits for Evidence.
A supportive caution: If even the minimum seems too much for you, talk to me and let me help you. I will be glad to. Why is it essential for you to get these Good Habits for Evidence straight? There is no company that would want to pay you for what those student examples showed as their way of working. If you had to make a personal decision that could determine your money, your health, or the safety of those you care about, you need to make that decision using the Good Habits for Evidence. It is not just about learning history (although that matters), but also about your future. |
A link in the Good Habits folder provides definitions of the words fact, evidence, assume, opinion, cherry pick, and embellish. These words are used on this webpage and also in the rubric for grading any essay.
If
you missed this question, click for a brief
oral explanation and to see highlighted words in both the student’s essay and
the source so you can understand why this student’s essay reveals a Good
Habit for Evidence that Student 5 did not
follow.
Good Habit for Evidence in the World |
For your source of facts,
use only sources your boss (or professor)
accepts as reliable. — For example, unless your boss tells you “Google this
for me and copy anything you like
from the Internet,” don’t. |
What’s Required for This Course |
In this course, the only
sources are: 1.
The textbook chosen
by the History Department 2.
The sources provided within our Course Website. Do not use: ·
Other Internet
websites ·
Another textbook ·
Any other
source—including other people or your own memory. |
If You Want More Tips |
If you want more tips on
this Good Habit for Evidence, click here |
If you missed this question, click for a brief
oral explanation and to see highlighted words in both the student’s essay and
the source so you can understand why this student’s essay reveals a Good
Habit for Evidence that Student 1 did not
follow.
Good Habit for Evidence in the World |
You must use reliable
sources to verify everything that you write or say. To verify a fact means to
confirm that the reliable source specifically states that fact (whether you wrote
the words or the author did). — With bosses (or professors), you will be in
trouble if you are incorrect so never guess and instead verify before you write or speak. |
What’s Required for This Course |
In
this course, if you cannot verify
the fact, do not write it and do not assume that the source agrees
with you. If you are certain something is true and you cannot find it clearly
in our sources, ask me for help.
§
If a question that you have to answer is
about something specific (such as a time, type of person, or region), verify
that the source is about that specific thing. §
If the source covers facts, do not cherry
pick or embellish them. §
If the source covers facts about two or more
sides, positions, individuals, or groups, do not include only one as though
the other did not occur. |
If You Want More Tips |
If you want more tips on
this Good Habit for Evidence, click here |
If you missed this question, click for a brief oral explanation and to see
highlighted words in both the student’s essay and the source so you can understand why this student’s
essay reveals a Good Habit for Evidence that Student 2 did not follow.
Good Habit for Evidence in the World |
If a boss (or professor) asks you for the proof of
something that you said or wrote, you must be able to state the name of the
reliable source and exactly where
(a specific page) in that source that
each fact came from (whether you
wrote the words or the author did). — With
bosses (or professors), you cannot just claim that a specific page provides
evidence. If a reasonable person using a reliable dictionary and reading the
entire passage on that page would not agree that you provided evidence, then
neither will your boss (or professor). |
What’s Required for This Course |
In this course with Exam
Essays, you do not need to provide
citations (the specific page number from our textbook where a fact is
located) unless I cannot recognize where the fact came from. If I cannot
recognize the fact, I will ask for citations. ·
If you have had a college course so you are
trained fully in a specific standard (such as MLA, APA, or the Chicago Manual of Style), you may use
that. ·
If you have not yet had a course, you may use a very
simple method provided as an additional instruction. |
If You Want More Tips |
If you want more tips on
this Good Habit for Evidence, click here |
If you missed this question, click for a brief oral explanation and to see
highlighted words in both the student’s essay and the source so you can understand why this student’s
essay reveals a Good Habit for Evidence that Student 4 did not follow.
Good Habit for Evidence in the World |
If you use words (even
phrases) created by another person, then follow standards for using quotation
marks (“”) to reveal clearly to your reader what words you created and what
words the author created. — This is a requirement in courses, and in some
jobs failure to do this is a firing offense. |
What’s Required for This Course |
In
this course, you may: §
Either write
facts in your own words §
Or you may use
exact sentences or phrases from the textbook placed within quotation marks
according to the specific rules for quotation marks (“”) to reveal ownership
that are covered in The Bedford
Handbook In this course, you may not
copy an author’s phrases without quotation marks. You also may not replace a few words in an
author’s sentence. Both are what The
Bedford Handbook calls “half-copy” plagiarism (page 692). Why I make a big deal about
“half-copy” plagiarism? Click here
because the reason is in your interests and may surprise you. |
If You Want More Tips |
If you want more tips on
this Good Habit for Evidence, click here.
This link takes you to the same tips for Quotation Changes Reveal Clearly
because they have the same background information |
If you missed this question, click for a brief oral explanation and to
see highlighted words in both the student’s essay and the source so you can understand why this student’s
essay reveals a Good Habit for Evidence that Student 3 did not follow.
Good Habit for Evidence in the World |
If you use quotation marks
(“”) to reveal words created by another person but you change those words, then
carefully reveal those changes by following standards for using quotation
marks (“”), ellipses (…), and/or square brackets ([ ]). This may not be just
a punctuation error. — Instead, by your changes, you may be misleading your
reader about the evidence, and never mislead a boss (or professor) about the
evidence. |
What’s Required for This Course |
In this course, if
you use another’s words, you must be sure either not to change them or—if you
change them—to follow the specific rules in The Bedford Handbook to reveal those changes to the reader. |
If You Want More Tips |
If you want more tips on
this Good Habit for Evidence, click here.
This link takes you to the same tips for No Plagiarism or “Half-Copy”
Plagiarism because they have the same background information |
The password for the acknowledgement quiz is
Evidence
After you take the quiz using the password, please email me so I can add the remaining 18 points to your Total.
Copyright C. J. Bibus,
Ed.D. 2003-2014 |
2014 |
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