Evaluation Standards
Participation
Your contributions are essential to a successful seminar. Please come to class prepared for lively and respectful discussion of the materials and the issues they raise.
I monitor participation by noting exceptionally good (or disrespectful) class contributions in my gradebook immediately after each session, and by evaluating your forum posts. The final participation grade is holistic rather than strictly point based, and usually helps most students.
The benchmark participation grade for a person who attends every class and joins the conversation is a B. Active and thoughtful participation will raise your grade. Missed classes, late arrival, and wandering in and out of class except for emergencies will lower your grade. Anyone checking email, answering a cellphone, or otherwise disrupting class with personal matters will be marked as absent for the day and asked to leave. If you attend class faithfully but never take part, you will receive at most a C for participation.
Posts
10 = Outstanding
All aspects of the assignment completed with extraordinary success. Skillful written and oral presentation demonstrates mastery of the material and considerable attention to writing and thinking..9 = Very Good
The task completed as expected. Comments and questions are clear and competent, demonstrating careful reading and reflection on the assigned materials.8 = Acceptable
A solid and unmistakable effort to meet the requirements, with some success.
I might sometimes award partial credit for marginally acceptable work; late posts will not be accepted and cannot be made up.
Papers
An A paper has an interesting and original argument which is supported consistently by well-integrated and well-chosen evidence. It is clearly written with no grammatical lapses or major stylistic infelicities. Primary and secondary sources are used adeptly, and appropriately for the assignment.
A B paper adequately demonstrates understanding of the topic and task. It might be marred by problems of presentation, a weak or lackluster argument, or evidence that is used inconsistently or poorly.
A C paper has some significant flaw. There is no argument; evidence is used poorly; the argument is not proven; the paper ignores obvious and important sources; the argument is unbalanced; there are some major writing problems; sources are poorly used.
A D paper might have a good and interesting argument but makes insufficient use of evidence or significantly disregard the assignment. A D paper might be so encumbered by grammatical lapses that it is impossible to evaluate the paper.
An F paper an unlikely event, caused by catastrophic disregard for the spirit of the assignment or the deadline! In such a paper, the relevant sources might be mentioned only in passing, or referred to vaguely only once or twice without engaging or evaluating them.
Lateness will be penalized unless excused by official written notification from the Dean of Students (Franklin Hall 108).