ASSESSMENT


Introduction

Your grade for the course will be based on a Portfolio you submit at the end of the semester. The portfolio will consist of a collection of your writings produced for this class. The core of your portfolio will consist of a number of required submissions, but you will also be permitted to submit a number of other writings that you may present to best demonstrate your growth and achievement. In addition to your essays, you might also include several e-mail messages or conference entries that you believe demonstrate your ability to master the particular theory. Or, you may wish to submit your reactions to certain readings and/or reactions to information discovered during one of your investigations.

Required Submission

All of the *Assignments *A final self-evaluative essay: a reflection, up to 5 pages, whereby you assess your growth and achievement and make a case for a grade using evidence from your portfolio. A well-written and developed case in support of your grade will have a great deal of influence over what grade you actually receive in the course.

Optional Materials

The purpose with these is to demonstrate a number of areas of strength you may have developed during the course. The idea here is not quantity but quality. Using several of the below could demonstrate your ability to read critically (the required readings and drafts), to contribute substantially to the communal knowledge of the class, or to demonstrate your conscious attempts to be an engaged, active learner.

Reading Responses; Peer Critiques; Drafts; E-Mail contributions/conference contributions

Presentation of Portfolio

*Option A: Traditional hard-copy portfolio With this option you would hand in a pocket folder with a collection of printed copies of the required and optional writings noted above. You must also include a title page with your name, student ID, the course name and section number, and the date. In addition, you should also include a table of contents.
*Option B: On Disk Because of the nature of the course, this is the preferred option, though which option you use will not have a bearing on your grade for the course. Using this option will require that you manage your electronic texts throughout the semester, finally placing your "collected works" on a disk to hand in. For those of you that are more motivated, we can discuss creating a portfolio to submit via the World Wide Web. You will be given extra credit for this since you will have to become a "webmaster," learning how to format your writings using hypertext markup language (HTML) and developing a home page.

Criteria for Success

I will give feedback on each of the following:

Does the final version fulfill the requirements of the assignment?

How rich in detail and content are the essays?

How sophisticated in the treatment of the topic and in language are the essays?

Are the essays focused, unified, and cohesive?

Do they conform to accepted and appropriate norms of usage and style?

Are the essays documented adequately and appropriately?

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