GENERAL STUDIES CONCENTRATION PAPER

IND 201 Milestone Two Guidelines and Rubric Overview: The concentration is another important element of the academic plan of study; it is the area in which you will develop a deep level of expertise. Concentrations options are wide-ranging. For example:

x Business Administration x Computer Information Technology x History x Human Resources Management x Justice Studies x Fashion Merchandising x Psychology x Advertising x Creative Writing x English Literature

The full list of concentration options can be found in the BA in General Studies: Available Concentrations document. Prompt: Research the knowledge, skills, and abilities that align with your chosen concentration and will aid you in achieving your specific goal, and identify three courses for your concentration that will help you develop those KSAs. You may use the Milestone Two Worksheet to organize your content for the short paper. This worksheet is optional. Your submission must be in the form of a short paper. To begin, research the areas of knowledge, skill, and, ability (KSAs) that are needed to accomplish your specific goal:

x Use the O*Net OnLine website, the other resources provided in this course, and Shapiro Library. You may also interview an individual within the field that interests you.

x You must have three separate sources for this information. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

x Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (Three to four paragraphs) o State your specific goal from Milestone One. o Describe at least six areas of knowledge, skill or ability (KSAs) that are related to your specific goal. Be sure to explain how possessing these KSAs

will help you achieve your specific goal.

x Concentration and Courses (one to two paragraphs) o State what your concentration is. Please note that concentration options are limited to those listed in the BA in General Studies: Available

Concentrations document. o Explain how your concentration aligns with your specific goal. o Identify three courses within your concentration that you have already completed or plan to take. Describe how each course will help you develop

the KSAs that are related to your specific goal. Use the SNHU Academic Catalogs to identify appropriate courses. x Bibliography

o Create a bibliography that includes each resource you used to write your short paper, and cite these resources in APA format.

Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Your short paper should be a four- to six-paragraph Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and a bibliography in APA format. Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade Center. For more information, review these instructions.

Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (75%) Not Evident (0%) Value KSAs

Identifies a range of KSAs and demonstrates keen insight in describing how each one is related to the specific goal

Identifies KSAs and provides a general description of how each is related to the specific goal

Does not identify KSAs or describe how they are related to the specific goal

25

Concentration

Selects a concentration that is essential to the specific goal and based on research into the KSAs

Selects a concentration that is somewhat essential to the specific goal

Does not select a concentration, or the concentration is not essential to the specific goal

25

Courses

Identifies three courses that are related to the concentration and clearly articulates how the courses relate to essential KSAs

Identifies three courses that are somewhat related to the concentration and/or provides a general description of how the courses relate to essential KSAs

Does not identify three courses for the concentration or describe how the courses relate to essential KSAs

25

Bibliography

Uses APA citation guidelines to create a bibliography that contains at least three sources

Uses APA citation guidelines to create a bibliography, but there are minor errors in citation, or bibliography contains only one or two sources

Does not use APA citation guidelines to create a bibliography, or no bibliography is provided

15

Articulation of Response

Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy-to- read format

Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas

Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization that prevent understanding of ideas

10

Total 100