Research Paper (Development of Autism) 8+ pages 8 sources

Content

Structure

Readability

Documentation

4

Clear and Consistent Competence

FOCUS: Clear and coherent

LOGIC: Clear and obvious flow of ideas

EVIDENCE: Assertions fully and appropriately supported

CONCEPT: Appropriate choice of topic, examples, and style

PURPOSE: Meets assignment guidelines and addresses appropriate material

TOPIC & DEVELOPMENT: Articulates a main point or topic early on; supports or amplifies thesis/topic sentence throughout; draws appropriate conclusions from evidence

ORGANIZATION: Clear structure with appropriate transitions where needed

PARAGRAPHS: Focused and well organized

MECHANICS: Contains only very minor grammar and punctuation errors or typos; errors must not seriously distract or harm clarity

DICTION: Appropriate word usage for topic and assignment

CLARITY: Easily understandable; clearly expressed

FORMAT: Format conforms to guidelines in the appropriate discipline

CITATION: Appropriate citation in text (or in footnote) and on works cited page (if required); smooth set-up of quotations, paraphrases, etc.

SOURCES: Well chosen, appropriate for field of study, sufficient in number and adequate to prove assertions

3

Adequate Competence

FOCUS: Obvious focus, generally maintained

LOGIC: Generally logical flow of thought

EVIDENCE: Supports most assertions well

CONCEPT: Generally appropriate choice of topic, examples, and style

PURPOSE: Basically meets assignment guidelines and addresses appropriate material

TOPIC & DEVELOPMENT: Generally articulates a main point or topic early on; mostly supports or amplifies thesis/topic sentence throughout; draws basically appropriate conclusions from evidence

ORGANIZATION: Generally clear structure with appropriate transitions where needed

PARAGRAPHS: Generally focused and well organized

MECHANICS: Contains some grammar and punctuation errors or typos; errors may distract but must not seriously harm clarity

DICTION: Generally appropriate word usage for topic and assignment

CLARITY: Generally understandable and clearly expressed

FORMAT: Format generally conforms to guidelines in the appropriate discipline

CITATION: Generally correct and appropriate citation in text (or in footnote) and on works cited page (if required); adequate set-up of quotations, paraphrases, etc.

SOURCES: Generally well chosen, and appropriate for field of study, sufficient in number and mostly adequate to prove assertions

Content

Structure

Readability

Documentation

2

Developing Competence

FOCUS: Weakly focused

LOGIC: Some leaps in logic or fallacious reasoning

EVIDENCE: Some assertions unsupported, or failure to distinguish between assertions and proof

CONCEPT: Weak choice of topic, examples, and style

PURPOSE: Does not meet assignment guidelines (but does not entirely fail to accomplish the objective)

TOPIC & DEVELOPMENT: Contains a point, evidence, and conclusion, but does not necessarily put them in the proper order or make them clearly visible

ORGANIZATION: Salvageable structure with some attempt at transition

PARAGRAPHS: Mostly on topic though with some shifts and errors in focus

MECHANICS: Contains significant and distracting grammar and punctuation errors or typos; errors may harm clarity (but not render the paper incomprehensible)

DICTION: Some errors in word usage for topic and assignment

CLARITY: Reader may have to work to understand; thought may seem muddled

FORMAT: Recognizably attempts to conform to the guidelines of the appropriate discipline

CITATION: Attempt at citation in text (or in footnote) and on works cited page (if required); Occasionally unclear set-up of quotations, paraphrases, etc.

SOURCES: Some badly chosen or inappropriate sources; some missing evidence

1

Inadequate Competence

FOCUS: No clear focus

LOGIC: No clear flow of ideas

EVIDENCE: Poor or absent evidence for assertions; evidence supporting no clear point

CONCEPT: Inappropriate choice of topic, examples, and style

PURPOSE: Fails to meet assignment guidelines; fails to accomplish assignment’s objectives

TOPIC & DEVELOPMENT: Missing major parts of the paper (intro, body, conclusion)

ORGANIZATION: Faulty structure with unclear connections between ideas and paragraphs; inadequate or absent transitions

PARAGRAPHS: Serious and persistent errors in paragraphing

MECHANICS: Significant and distracting grammar and punctuation errors; errors harm clarity, distract, and make it impossible to comprehend parts of the paper

DICTION: Inappropriate word usage

CLARITY: Point is unclear; reader cannot understand what writer means to say

FORMAT: Serious failure to conform to guidelines in the appropriate discipline

CITATION: Inadequate or missing citation in text (or in footnote) and on works cited page (if required); little or no set-up of quotations, paraphrases, etc. Student may plagiarize

SOURCES: Inappropriate, insufficient, and inadequate sources