Blog Grading Rubric

I’ve also included this information on the Assignments page for easier reference during the semester…

In the field of digital humanities and other disciplines, many scholars, researchers and teachers often collaborate and share ideas on best practices about conducting research and teaching college students. Much of my own training in the digital humanities began with collaboration via email, Twitter, Hangouts, and formal and informal conferences with mentors, colleagues and peers. The blog grading rubric is one of the many gems I’ve been able to adopt and adapt from my experience in scholarly communication – one of the key aspects of digital humanities practice. I borrow it from Mark Sample’s A Rubric for Evaluating Student Blogs and have used it for a number of semesters, with amendments to the scoring. Here are the key points that will matter to you and your weekly blogging exercise this semester:

Rating

Characteristics

5

Exceptional. The blog post is focused and coherently integrates examples with explanations or analysis. The post demonstrates awareness of its own limitations or implications, and it considers multiple perspectives when appropriate. The entry reflects in-depth engagement with the topic.

4

Satisfactory. The blog post is reasonably focused, and explanations or analysis are mostly based on examples or other evidence. Fewer connections are made between ideas, and though new insights are offered, they are not fully developed. The post reflects moderate engagement with the topic.

3

Underdeveloped. The blog post is mostly description or summary, without consideration of alternative perspectives, and few connections are made between ideas. The post reflects passing engagement with the topic.

2

Limited. The blog post is unfocused, or simply rehashes previous comments, and displays no evidence of student engagement with the topic.

1

 Minimal. The blog post consists of one or two disconnected sentences. It does not address relevant topics to the week’s discussion or is incoherent and plagued with writing errors.

For our purposes in HIS 114, I will only use these number scores. There will be no “half points” awarded. Some of your blog entries will be more free form than others and that will be taken into account. But in general, you are expected to submit thoughtful and well-written material to your site in order to generate productive discussion among classroom peers and a wider public.

 

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