•The impact of Web-based communication on public attitudes and political policy making

You effectively establish the context and purpose of the writing assignment or paper; the thesis is clearly conveyed and central theme is readily apparent.

You establish the context and purpose of the writing assignment or paper; the thesis is identified and central theme is indicated.

You somewhat establish the context and purpose of the writing assignment or paper; the thesis and central theme are unclear.

You ineffectively establish the context and purpose of the writing assignment or paper; the thesis is not indicated and central theme is missing or insufficient.

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You use carefully chosen, authoritative, and compelling content that demonstrates mastery of the subject; provide an advanced and thoughtful analysis of ideas; present an in-depth synthesis of ideas demonstrating insight and interpretation; and include meticulous references to readings wherever necessary.

You use appropriate and relevant content that demonstrates sufficient command of the subject; provide a germane analysis of ideas; and include references to readings.

You use somewhat appropriate content that demonstrates limited command of the subject; provide a cursory analysis of ideas that lacks insight and interpretation; and include minimal references to readings.

You use inappropriate and irrelevant content, provide little, if any, analysis, and do not include references to readings.

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You lucidly organize material into well-formed paragraphs and arrange your ideas logically to support the purpose of the paper; writing is fluid with an explicit focus and sensible structure.

You logically organize material into well-formed paragraphs; writing has focus and structure.

You loosely organize material and provide limited supporting detail; writing is somewhat disjointed and disorganized.

You incoherently organize material, often impairing the reader's ability to comprehend it; significant details are missing or irrelevant; writing is completely disjointed and lacks correct form and structure.

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You effectively fulfill the length requirement for the writing assignment, thoroughly address all assignment criteria, and fully develop and explore concepts.

You fulfill the length requirement for the writing assignment and sufficiently address assignment criteria and explore concepts.

You minimally fulfill the length requirement for the writing assignment and incompletely address criteria and explore concepts.

You do not fulfill the length requirement for the writing assignment and inadequately address assignment criteria and explore concepts.

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You support points and subpoints with abundant clarifying detail, include relevant and clearly attributed sources as necessary, and effectively link ideas; comprehensive evidence extends ideas and fully authenticates the purpose/thesis of the writing assignment or paper.

You support points and subpoints with sufficient detail, attribute sources as necessary, and link ideas; evidence relates to the purpose/thesis of the writing assignment or paper.

You support points and subpoints with limited detail and improperly link ideas at times; most evidence does not relate to the purpose/thesis of the writing assignment or paper.

You inadequately support points and subpoints with irrelevant detail and do not properly link ideas; little, if any, evidence relates to the purpose/thesis of the writing assignment or paper.

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You clearly and effectively document sources of information with in-text citations linking to "works cited" or references at the end of the paper; format is complete and entirely accurate.

You properly document sources of information with in-text citations linking to "works cited" or references at the end of the paper; format may include a few minor errors.

You incompletely document sources of information with in-text citations linking to "works cited" or references at the end of the paper; format includes significant errors.

You inadequately document sources of information with either in-text citations or "works cited" or references at the end of the paper; whatever documentation exists includes multiple and serious errors.

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You write in complete, well-constructed sentences with faultless grammar, word choice, punctuation, and spelling; writing is sharp, coherent, and demonstrates sophisticated clarity.

You write in complete sentences with mostly correct grammar, word choice, punctuation, and spelling; minor errors may exist but do not compromise meaning.

You write in unclear sentences with significant errors in grammar, word choice, punctuation, and spelling that may compromise meaning.

You write in incomplete, incomprehensible sentences filled with serious errors in grammar, word choice, punctuation, or spelling.

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You effectively define the scope of the research question or thesis and clearly determine key concepts; types of information (sources) selected relate directly to concepts or answer research question.

You define the scope of the research question or thesis and determine key concepts; types of information (sources) selected relate to concepts or answer research question.

You incompletely define the scope of the research question or thesis (i.e., parts are missing or it remains too broad or too narrow, etc.) and minimally determine key concepts; types of information (sources) selected partially relate to concepts or answer research question.

You inadequately define the scope of the research question or thesis and have difficulty determining key concepts; types of information (sources) selected do not relate to concepts or answer research question.

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You access information using effective, well-designed search strategies and highly relevant information sources.

You access information using a variety of search strategies and appropriate information sources.

You access information using simple search strategies, retrieving information from limited and similar sources.

You access information randomly, retrieving information that lacks relevance and quality.

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You choose a variety of information sources particularly relevant to the scope and discipline of the research question, after considering the importance of multiple criteria such as pertinence to the research question, currency, authority, audience, and bias or point of view.

You choose a variety of information sources appropriate to the scope and discipline of the research question, after considering the importance of multiple criteria such as relevance to the research question, currency, and authority.

You choose a variety of information sources using basic criteria such as relevance to the research question and currency.

You choose few information sources using limited criteria, if any, such as relevance to the research question.

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You communicate, organize, and synthesize information from sources to fully achieve a specific purpose, with clarity and depth.

You communicate, organize, and synthesize information and achieve your intended purpose.

You communicate and organize information from sources and partially achieve your intended purpose.

You communicate information from sources, but the information is fragmented and/or used inappropriately (e.g., misquoted, taken out of context, incorrectly paraphrased, etc.) so as not to achieve your intended purpose.

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You correctly apply all of the following information use strategies: (1) citations and references; (2) choice of paraphrasing, summary, or quoting; (3) using information in ways that are true to original context; and (4) distinguishing between common knowledge and ideas requiring attribution. And you demonstrate in the process a complete understanding of the ethical and legal restrictions on the use of published, confidential, and proprietary information.

You correctly apply three of the following information use strategies: (1) citations and references; (2) choice of paraphrasing, summary, or quoting; (3) using information in ways that are true to original context; and (4) distinguishing between common knowledge and ideas requiring attribution. And you demonstrate in the process a sound understanding of the ethical and legal restrictions on the use of published, confidential, and proprietary information.

You correctly apply two of the following information use strategies: (1) citations and references; (2) choice of paraphrasing, summary, or quoting; (3) using information in ways that are true to original context; and (4) distinguishing between common knowledge and ideas requiring attribution. And you demonstrate in the process a partial understanding of the ethical and legal restrictions on the use of published, confidential, and proprietary information.

You correctly apply one of the following information use strategies: (1) citations and references; (2) choice of paraphrasing, summary, or quoting; (3) using information in ways that are true to original context; and (4) distinguishing between common knowledge and ideas requiring attribution. And you demonstrate in the process a poor understanding of the ethical and legal restrictions on the use of published, confidential, and proprietary information.