Global Awareness and Cultural Diversity (GLST 201) Rubric
GLST 201 is part of the core course sequence in the Global Perspectives 21 program. It
builds upon the skills and knowledge developed in the Alpha Seminar by applying the skills of
cultural analysis learned during the first year to other cultures and peoples and complements
Values Inquiry courses (GLST 210 Values Analysis or its equivalents) by exploring a range of cultural
viewpoints. Global Awareness and Cultural Diversity expands the educational experience of
students by helping students explore the traditions of people throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin
America. This course helps students (1) develop the skills of cultural analysis and (2) become
exposed to different places, peoples, and cultures through selected case studies.
The course begins with a consideration of several approaches to culture (both disciplinaryspecific and interdisciplinary approaches) and examines how these different conceptualizations shape
what we look at when we study a culture and the various methodologies used to approach culture.
Students will consider culture as:
(1) a civilization (Herder),
(2) the best that has been thought and said (Matthew Arnold),
(3) the rituals, habits, and practices of ordinary people (Classical Anthropology),
(4) the mindset or ideology of a people (Cultural Studies).
By applying these approaches to a range of peoples, students should develop a sense of the
complexity of “knowing” and participating in a culture. Students will map out conflicts in
contemporary social, economic, and political formations to reveal how cultures contain and negotiate
conflict over values, boundaries, and meaning.. In addition, students will understand that studying
culture means focusing on the relationships between and among art, popular culture, religion,
philosophy, history, social psychology, economics, and political science.
Much attention will be focused on developing the skills needed to learn about a different
culture while students are firmly embedded within a particular cultural framework (i.e., the United
States). Students will be expected to examine how their own culture and identities both shape and
are shaped by their experience and understanding of other cultures. The fluidity of cultural
identities and the dialogues between cultures will be emphasized so that students develop an
awareness of culture as ongoing, living entity that shifts over time and space.
Course Objectives and Goals
The specific objectives for student learning this course are:
to recognize and experience how the study of culture must include a wide range of material
objects and belief/value systems, with an examination of dominant and minority ways of
understanding.
to develop an understanding of diversity that accounts for the depth of cultural differences
through the adoption of an attitude of cultural relativism, while building bridges across those differences
in a manner that does not necessarily entail ethical relativism.
to understand that a culture is a dynamic, ongoing set of processes and institutions designed to
make sense of the world and solve certain problems.
to expand students’ knowledge of what is happening in the world and enhance their
understanding of the world’s geography.
to improve oral and written communication skills
to develop and master critical thinking skills for the analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of
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arguments and evidence.
Introductory Comments and Observations
If I have questions about how to conceptualize and teach the course, to whom should I talk?
We have a large number of experienced Global Awareness teachers on campus. Some faculty
who have good experience with the course include: Jeanie Allen, Erin Kenny, Ruth Monroe, Jeff
VanDenBerg, Curt Gilstrap, and Richard Schur
Am I supposed to be an expert in everything that this course covers?
NO!!!
The best part of teaching Global Awareness is the way it allows us as teachers to explore
culture along with our students. The best courses are those where students come to see how the
questions we ask and the theories we apply help us learn more about other people and to develop
broader and deeper experiences within our own culture.
Thus, the focus of the course is applying the broad skills of cultural analysis to a series of
specific objects, rituals, practices and/or situations. For this reason, we ask students to maintain
current events journals/papers and present their findings regularly. These presentations allow us to
show how asking questions and examining sources can lead us to a greater knowledge than passively
accepting information that we read.
Advising
Because Global Awareness is part of the general education curriculum for sophomores, there
is an important advising function that comes with teaching this course. It is essential that faculty
teaching this course make it a regular practice to check in with students about their other classes and
how their chosen major is “treating them.” Recent evidence suggests that we still lose too many
students during and after the sophomore year. There is a general expectation that a GLST 201
teacher has at least one conference per term with every student. In addition to discussing
writing and/or course content, please determine if the student is struggling personally,
socially, and/or academically. If you find any cause for concern, please forward the student’s
name to Brigitte Marrs, or Ed Derr as appropriate.
Writing
Global Awareness is a writing-intensive course. This means that students should write a lot
and that faculty must teach the fundamentals of writing. Be sure to set aside class time to refresh
students’ memories about citation, analysis of evidence, organizational structure, tone, and style. As
you well know, teaching writing is an ongoing activity that requires constant repetition. If you want
students to learn a particular aspect of writing, be sure to discuss it at least 6 to 8 times over
the course of the semester. Although many of the writing topics you will wish to discuss with
students were presented during Alpha Seminar or Studies in American Life, you are more likely to
receive better written products from your students if you completely describe your expectations, goals
and objectives with each and every assignment. Students should submit at least 20-25 pages of
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formal writing over the course of the semester. Peter Meidlinger, the Director of the Writing
Center, is an excellent resource person to discuss how to approach the teaching of writing. Do not
hesitate to contact him!
Critical Thinking
Global Awareness is a critical thinking-intensive course. This means that the five-step critical
thinking process (which can be found in later in this guidebook) should be discussed and followed at
key moments in the course. In other words, take some time to show how cultural analysis and
developing a global perspective constitute specific applications of the critical thinking process that
they explored in Alpha Seminar or in Studies in American Life. Global Awareness should not
primarily consist of encyclopedic descriptions of cultures. Rather, students should encounter
and think through a variety of arguments about cultural change, development, and power
dynamics. If nothing else, students should become aware of how few facts or pieces of evidence
shape their view of other cultures. They must practice sifting the “facts” about culture from the
stereotypes and myths that frequently circulate in American popular culture. In teaching critical
thinking, it is a good and successful method to go through the steps of critical thinking sequentially as
you proceed through the semester. Even if students have encountered this framework before (n Alpha
Seminar), they may have conveniently forgotten it or be out of practice in applying it. Ted Vaggalis
and Richard Schur developed Drury’s critical thinking rubric and can help you develop strategies to
include critical thinking in your classes. Charlie Ess and Chris Panza are also fantastic resources who
can help you develop strategies for engaging your students in critical thinking.
Oral Presentation
Global Awareness is not designed to be a speech class, per se. However, it is the expectation
that students regularly participate in class discussions and that they present at least one informal
(current event report) and one formal (research presentation) speech during the course of the
semester. Again, it is beneficial to review the standards for successful presentations to students before
they present each kind of speech. Rick Maxson, the Director of the Speech Communications Center,
is usually willing to give a short course to your students on good oral presentation habits. It is also a
great idea to require students to visit the Speech Communication Center before presenting in class.
Rick can help you organize this.
Library
Phyllis Holzenberg (ext 7487) is the librarian assigned to help out with GP 21. She is a great
resource and help when your students complete their research projects. Do not hesitate to call her to
lead a library tour or a tour of the relevant sources for your class’s research project.
J-Stor and First Search both provide excellent cross-cultural/anthropological library
resources to students; however these journal articles may be excessively dense, dated, and lacking in
the contextual aspects necessary for students to apply aspects that they have learned in class. (For
example, an anthropological article on spirit possession of women members of the zar cult in western
Egypt may have little or nothing to do with your student’s research on social organization in the late
Pharoanoic period.) You may find that you need to “build in” time to allow students to gather
resources through Interlibrary Loan. Our library collection excels in materials on the Far East, but
lacks variety in the regions of Africa and South America. Working with the reference librarians allows
students to build the skills to put together a research project that draws from a variety of non-local
sources.
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Guest Speakers
On occasion, it may be useful to invite guest speakers to class discuss a specific aspect of a
particular culture. However, be careful not to suggest either overtly or implicitly that a person is an
expert on Mali (for example) merely because he or she was raised there. While his or her experiences
may be interesting and useful, it is important to note that “cultural” knowledge can be as invisible to
insiders as it is to outsiders because such cultural knowledge is frequently reduced to an unconscious
norm. You can remind students that although most of them were born and raised in the US, they are
not necessarily experts or exhaustively knowledgeable about the politics, history, art, geography or
literature of the US. While their American experiences are certainly genuine and complete in their own
way, one person’s view is not complete to describe or represent an entire culture or people.
Mandatory Readings & Assignments
Coursepack
All Global Awareness sections will use the Global Awareness Reader as the introductory section
that unifies the course across the various sections. Through this Reader, GLST 201 courses will
develop the skills of cultural analysis required by the course. Taken together, these readings examine
several classic binaries in the study of culture: material culture vs. belief systems, the best of what has
been thought and said vs. everyday experiences, practices and rituals vs. institutions, consensus
approaches vs. a focus on diversity, and essential cores to culture vs. dynamic transnational cultures.
The point of these readings is to introduce a series of issues that will arise during the course of the
semester. Case studies and later readings will more fully develop the points raised during this unit.
While most sections of Global Awareness will complete the Global Awareness Reader in one unit, some
instructors may choose to spread out their usage of the material.
Current Events
All Global Awareness sections ask students to keep track of current events. The most
common way that Global Awareness instructors do this is by requiring students to maintain a current
events journal where they collect news articles about a region or country over a significant period of
the semester (8-10 weeks). With the advent of the internet, it is relatively easy for students to gain
access to English-language newspapers from around the world. Current events reports should require
students to cover a number of topics or disciplines within the region or country. The grade for the
written report should be based on how well the report creates an overall picture of the issues,
challenges and successes of the region/country as a whole. Many instructors require that every student
present one news story as an oral presentation. They do this by having 2-3 oral presentations a week.
These oral reports also provide instructors with an opportunity to apply analysis learned in class to
contemporary issues and to alert students to the functions of international organizations such as the
UN, World Bank, IMF, WHO, etc.
A good reference page for international newspapers is http://www.ipl.org/div/news/.
Another resource may be accessed from the Olin Library home page: clicking on Direct Links opens a
section to choose A-Z Databases. The database called “countrywatch.com” provides excellent,
frequently up-dated resources from major newspapers in countries around the world.
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Other internet compilation resources exist, such as All Africa (http://allafrica.com/), which
aggregates and posts information from independent presses across the African content in English,
making it accessible to US students. This site also includes a “search” function, allowing students to
research a particular issue over time and within one geographic area.
Research Project
Every student in Global Awareness should complete a research project (8-10 pages) discussing
a particular material artifact, social institution, or social custom within one society or culture. This
assignment helps students develop an understanding of a people or a society through the close analysis
of a particular artifact, institution, or custom. Frequently, instructors ask students to cluster their
presentations so that each class has 4-5 groups research elements covering 4-5 cultures. This
communal approach allows students an opportunity to collaborate on resources and put their research
projects into dialogue with one another. Students regularly present their findings through power-point
and poster presentations.
An excellent resource for this project is the library’s eHRAF Collection of Ethnography, a
cross-cultural database containing more than 350,000 pages of comparative data on human cultures
from all over the world. The link to this can be found at the Olin Library webpage. To access
eHRAF, access “Direct Links” from the Libray home page, select “A-Z Databases,” and navigate to
the eHRAF collection. (note: eHRAF generally requires a tutorial to use effectively. Students will not
be able to find information based on national country designation, but will need to know the names of
ethnic groups. Reference librarians excel at assisting students in these explorations. A final note
should caution that this collection has accreted over the course of 100 years: language and
“objectivity” within the eHRAF documents should always be approached critically.)
Two general principles may help to provide guidance on the structure of student assignments
dealing with culture:
a) time: be sure that students aren’t trying to encompass centuries of history in their study of
Iraq. Mesopotamian culture began between the Tigres and Euphrates 3500 years BC, and
continues to present day occupied Baghdad. Students need to delineate the time period they
plan to study with some care and
b) students often make the mistake of presenting papers on nation-states rather than cultures.
To study Nigeria, for example, often yields shallow student reports that concentrate on “gross
per capita income” and “major exports.” These kinds of paper discuss aspects of global
political-economy, but they do little to advance the analytical device that characterizes the best
papers in this course: culture. Help students to be clear on what culture, specifically, they are
setting out to investigate. In most cases, they will need to do some research to identify these
groups in advance (again, countrywatch.com is an incredibly helpful resource on this score).
Most nations in the world are characterized by massive ethnic and cultural diversity. Helping
students to see this problem of studying culture as they design their research both improves
their comprehension of the dynamic aspects of culture and avoids dull, Encyclopedia
Brittanica-style reports.
Geographic Knowledge
Every section of Global Awareness should spend some time developing geographic
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knowledge. Most sections discuss regional and national geography periodically throughout the
semester to complement their case studies. Most sections include geography quizzes to assess
geographic knowledge. While such quizzes may feel like “high school,” it is important for students to
possess some detailed knowledge of the places they are studying, and students often report that they
appreciate gaining concrete geographic awareness at the end of the course.
A number of websites contain maps suitable for use in the classroom. Check out About
Geography
(http://geography.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.eduplace.com/ss/ssmaps/in
dex.html), National Geographic Xpeditions
(http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=world&Mode=d&SubMo
de=w), and World Atlas (http://graphicmaps.com/webimage/testmaps/maps.htm).
Other Possible Assignments
Global Insight Luncheon Series
Ioana Popescu will be organizing this year's Global Insights Luncheon Series, where faculty
and students present their insights from the travels. Frequently, students who have traveled abroad
discuss their trip and how it has transformed their worldviews. Faculty also discuss their experiences
teaching and researching in foreign countries. Some GLST 201 sections require that students attend a
certain number of these events. Other sections allow students to attend and then submit papers for
extra credit. In either case, the Global Insight series provides a great opportunity for students to learn
more about other cultures.
Other Lectures, Experiences, etc.
Try to encourage students to seek out experiences, presentations, and/or activities that will
help them connect their classroom analyses to out-of-class experiences. Be on the lookout for events
that can help fill in or complete what is happening within the Global Studies classroom.
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Units
Recommended Units
Introductory Unit
All sections of GLST should begin the semester with an introduction into the study of culture.
Most sections will use the Reader to provide the bulk of the material for this introductory unit. The
goal of this unit is to explore the difficulties in studying culture. While it is relatively easy to work
through the various definitions of culture, it is more challenging for students to begin to see how these
different definitions rely on contrasting assumptions and methods for the study of culture. One
component of this section explores how the study of culture relies on the interplay of multiple
disciplines to get at the essence of the culture concept. In other words, we use culture as an example
of interdisciplinary inquiry, drawing on multiple disciplines to identify moments of overlap, conflict
and negotiation between disciplines. Examples of potential overlap, conflict and negotiation include:
a.
material culture (anthropology, art, architecture) vs. belief systems (religion &
philosophy)
b.
cultural products (humanities, history, literature) vs. everyday experiences (social
science)
c.
practices and rituals (anthropology) vs. institutions (sociology, economics, political
science),
d.
consensus approaches to a society (tribalism, patriotism, & nationalism) vs. a focus on
diversity (multiculturalism)
e.
essential cores to culture (modernism) vs. dynamic transnational cultures (globalization
theory)
If nothing else, students should leave the course seeing culture as more of a conceptual problem than
something than can be easily contained by any one theory. The advantage of this approach is that it
allows us to remind them that identity and communal solidarity are not easily defined or theorized.
However, we cannot leave students feeling hopeless about the study of culture. Rather, they
should see these kinds of difficulties parallel to those that have animated Western thought from Plato
and Aristotle to Nietzsche and Marx. It is only through an understanding of our cultural environment
that deeper notions of freedom, justice, and autonomy are possible.
Middle Section/Case Studies
Historically, most Global Awareness & Cultural Diversity sections explore a series of different
cultures, moving from one continent to the next over the course of the semester. This translates into
sections of the course focusing on Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East respectively. In
addition to focusing on a different representative culture from within the region, case studies usually
move topically from explorations of family, literature, religion or beliefs and education to studies of
politics and economics. Within each of these sections, historical overviews provide thumbnail sketches
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of the many areas of life in that culture. This might mean that a first case study would focus on family
life in Ghana, a second case study might examine literature and religious traditions of India, and a
third case study might explore the effect of the illegal cocaine trade on the economics and politics of
Colombia.
A second approach to case studies allows students to examine a series of social problems or
issues that many cultures are facing, and how these cultures respond to the challenges they face. For
instance, one course might look at the world slave trade in Kevin Bales’s Disposable People, cultural
attitudes toward technology in Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel (check out the three episode
series on DVD at Olin Library), and how cultural attitudes shape cognition (Richard Nisbett’s The
Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently . . .and Why). In this social construction
approach, the various issues or topics structure examinations of different cultures rather than focusing
on the theoretical notion of culture. Another text that cleverly examines thematic issues common to
all cultures (for example: the household, perceptions of time, language) is Carol Delaney’s excellent
Investigating Culture, published by Blackwell.
A third approach to the case study option is to adopt the classic anthropological treatment of
livelihood strategies and discuss the different ways that economic approaches to cultural inquiry
influence the institutions that emerge. For example, agricultural societies are typically associated with
increased surplus and wealth, social stratification, and urban developments. When studying herding
peoples, it is necessary to account for rites of passage, mobility, livestock, environmental issues, and in
the contemporary world, increasingly warfare. A number of cultural anthropology and archaeological
textbooks address these issues explicitly, including Conrad Kottak’s McGraw Hill text Mirror for
Humanity, Spradley and McCurdy’s Allyn and Bacon excellent ethnographic reader Conformity and
Conflict, and Nancy Bonvillian’s Pearson-Prentice Hill theoretical behemoth Cultural Anthropology.
Westview Press also has a nice range of applied anthropology textbooks.
Conclusion - Developing a Global Perspective
Every course should include a concluding section that draws some temporary conclusions for
students and helps them get prepared ultimately for Global Futures (GLST 301) and a Minorities and
Indigenous Culture (MIC) class, where they examine one culture in more detail. Part of this conclusion
should focus on the positive attributes of a global perspective. In other words, what have they
learned? Ideally students can identify and analyze the following aspects of cultural formations:
a.
Social Institutions
b.
Ceremonial vs Daily Rituals and Customs
c.
Beliefs and Values
d.
Material Culture
e.
Minority and Majority voices within the culture
In addition, students should begin seeing how the study of other cultures helps them learn more about
others and themselves, especially as it helps them clarify their own values and beliefs. This analysis
should help them put their experiences into a great context.
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Model Syllabi
This sample calendar is not a rigid template. We encourage faculty new to the course to stick as close
as possible to it during their first year with the course. The advantage of this sequence is that it helps
faculty get a good handle of the underlying course themes and narratives.
Introduction
Week 1
What is culture? Readings - Nussbaum, Kottak & Griswold
Week 2
What is a social construction? Readings - Fernea, Kilbride, & Cooper
(During this week, set up current event journals and presentations)
(Have a quiz or brief paper (2-3 pp) on theory of culture and a brief application
of cultural analysis)
Case Study 1
Week 3
Background materials and lectures, Geography Quiz
Week 4
Critical Thinking (Clarification & Assumptions)
Week 5
Case study book discussions (student-led?)
Week 6
Film, Writing Workshops (Use of evidence & citation), & Paper Due (3-5
pages)
Case Study 2
Week 7
Background materials and lectures, Geography Quiz
Week 8
Critical Thinking (Reasoning & Consequences of Argument)
Week 9
Case study book discussions (student-led?)
Current Events Journals Due (7-9 pages)
Week 10
Film, Writing Workshop (Organizational Structure and thesis construction)&
Paper Due (4-6 pages)
Research Project & Conclusion (some sections will use the research project as a third case study
where the whole class will do research on one culture or the class will explore 2 to 3 cultures as
different research teams)
Week 11
Globalization & Culture, Reading - Pieterse
What is a Global Perspective? How can researching a specific custom, ritual, or
practice further that global perspective?
Week 12
Critical Thinking (Alternative Views), Library tour and intro to research
resources
Week 13
Research Bibliographies Due, Individual & Group Conferences
Week 14 & 15 Poster or Power-Point Presentations (5-7 minutes per person)
Final Research Paper Due (8-10 pages per person)
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Books Recently Used in GLST 201
Abouzeid, The Year of the Elephant (Morocco)
Achebe, Things Fall Apart (Nigeria)
Atiya, Khul-Khaal: Five Egyptian Women Tell Their Stories
Bales, Disposable People (Contemporary World Slavery)
Behar, Translated Woman (Mexico)
Conrad, Legend of Sundiata (Mali/Guinea)
D’Alisera, Imagined Geographies (Sierra Leone/US)
Danticat, TheDew Breakers (Haiti)
Farmer, Pathologies of Power
Feiler, Learning to Bow (Japan)
Gannon, Understanding Global Cultures: Metaphysical Journeys through 23 Nations (a broad overview of a
range of cultures where each culture is represented through a main metaphor)
Holm, Coming Home Crazy (China)
Horovitz, Still Life With Bomber (Israel)
Hulme, The Bone People (Maori)
Kinkaid, A Small Place (Antigua)
Laye, The Dark Child (Guinea)
Mah, Watching the Tree (China)
Mehta, Snakes & Ladders (India)
Niane, Sundiata (Mali/Guinea)
Nisbett, The Geography of Thought (Asian vs. Western cognitive processes)
Parekh, Gandhi: A Very Short Introduction (India)
Podolefsky & Brown, Applying Cultural Anthropology (edited collection about a range of topics)
Sciolino, Persian Mirrors (Iran)
Sekhon, Modern India (India)
Shah, The Storyteller's Daughter (Afghanistan)
Small, Voyages (Tonga/US)
Soyinka, Death and the King’s Horseman (Nigeria)
Valmiki, Joothan: An Untouchable's Life (India)
Verberg, Ourselves Among Others (Reader that contains stories and essays from a range of places)
Wogan, Magical Writing in Salasaca (Ecuador)
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Olin Library Films that have been used in GLST 201
Feature Films
Baran (Iran)
Central Station (Brazil)
The Cup (Tibet)
Das Experiment (Germany)
Kandahar (Afganistan)
Kundun (Tibet)
Life and Debt in Jamaica (Jamaica)
Lost Boys of the Sudan (Sudan/US)
The Mission (Argentina/Paraguay/Brazil)
Monsoon Wedding (India)
Shall We Dance? (Japan)
Smoke Signals (Coeur d’Alene reservation, US)
Wedding Banquet (Taiwan/US)
Wedding in Galilee (Israel/Palestine)
Whale Rider (Maori)
The Wind Will Carry Us (Iran)
Educational Films
33 Million Gods (India)
Bugs for Breakfast (premise: just like prejudice, we learn to like foods; designed for a younger audience,
but could be interesting as an opportunity to deconstruct cultural assumptions)
Dadi’s Family (India)
Egypt: Journey to the Global Civilization (social org in agricultural civilizations)
Guns, Germs and Steel (truly global and interdisciplinary)
T-Shirt Travels (Zambia)
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Assessment of Student Writing
Instructions:
Rate papers based on their proficiency in the items listed below at the level of proficiency
expected of a college graduate.
Development of Ideas
1.
Well-defined subject matter and an explicit thesis
Proficient
Not Proficient
2.
Clear and focused organization
Proficient
Not Proficient
3.
Support for ideas
Proficient
Not Proficient
Writing Quality
4.
Appropriate (Professional/Academic/etc.) tone
Proficient
Not Proficient
5.
Active Voice*, concise wording, and varied style
Proficient
Not Proficient
*(Not all discplines require active voice. For those writing assignments, passive voice would constitute proficient prose)
6.
Well-edited (spelling, grammar, punctuation)
Proficient
Not Proficient
7.
Use of appropriate citation
Proficient
Not Proficient
12
Writing Skill
Purpose and Focus
(Thesis Statement!)
Development of Ideas
References/Examples
Organization
Sentence Structure
Language
Grammar and
Formatting
Excellent
Proficient
Intermediate
Novice
Establishes and
maintains clear
focus (thesis
statement);
evidence of
distinctive voice
and/or
appropriate
tone
Focused on a
purpose (thesis);
evidence of a
voice and/or
suitable tone
An attempt to
establish and
maintain purpose
and communicate
with the audience
Limited
awareness of
audience
and/or
purpose
Depth and
complexity of
ideas supported
by rich,
engaging
and/or
pertinent
details; evidence
analysis,
reflection and
insight
Depth of idea
development
supported by
elaborated,
relevant details
Unelaborated idea
development;
unelaborated
and/or repetitious
details
Minimal idea
development,
limited and/or
unrelated
details
Use of
references/exa
mples indicate
substantial
research
Use of
references/exam
ples indicate
ample research
Some
references/exampl
es
Few
references/exa
mples
Careful and/or
suitable
organization
Logical
organization
Lapses in focus
and/or coherence
Random or
weak
organization
Variety of
sentence
structure and
length
Controlled and
varied sentence
structure
Simplistic and/or
awkward sentence
structure
Incorrect or
lack of topic
and/or
ineffective
wording
and/or
sentence
structure
Precise and/or
rich language
Acceptable,
effective
language
Simplistic and/or
imprecise
language
Incorrect
and/or
ineffective
wording
and/or
sentence
structure
No errors in
grammar or
formatting;
appropriate
margins, font
Few errors in
grammar or
format relative
to length and
complexity;
appropriate
font/margins
Some errors in
grammar and/or
format that do not
interfere with
communication;
appropriate
font/margins
Poor grammar
or format (e.g.,
spelling,
punctuation,
capitalization,
headings);
inappropriate
font/margins
Total Points
13
Possib
20
20
15
15
10
10
10
14
CRITICAL THINKING RUBRIC
Step
Weak
Acceptable
Excellent
Clarification (30%)
1
2
3
4
5
Analysis (30%)
1
2
3
4
5
Assumptions (20%) 1
2
3
4
5
Consequences (10%)1
2
3
4
5
Alternatives (10%)
1
2
3
4
5
Overall
1
2
3
4
5
Definition of Overall Rankings:
5
Excellent! Fully completes the step at the level of an advanced graduate student. Analysis
demonstrates detailed insight and command of salient issues. Clearly understands different
disciplinary approaches and/or schools of thought. Writer states a clear position and makes
relevant connections to evidence. This category would usually include no more than the top 510% of a graduating class
4
Pretty Thorough! Completes the step at the level of a college graduate ready to enter
graduate study. Analysis shows command of most issues and throws some insight into matter.
Beginning to connect arguments to disciplinary or philosophical camps. Uses
evidence/reasoning fairly well. Takes a clear position. This category would typically include a
significant number of students, perhaps as many of 20-30% of our graduating class beyond
those who rated a "5."
3
Decent! Completes the step at the level expected of college graduates. Attention to detail.
Identified major issues and/or problems, but shows limited base of experience and knowledge.
Can differentiate between viewpoints and arguments. Takes a clear position, but based on
partial understanding of field.
This is the minimum level that would like to see all of our graduates!
2
Inadequate! Completes step at the level of student just entering the debate. Some detail
offered, but not always relevant. Big picture not wholly in view. Only partially distinguishes
viewpoints and arguments. May not fully take a position. Some analysis of facts and/or placing
them in context.
1
Poor! Does not really understand issues or make relevant connections. Does not take a
meaningful position. Does not make any connections to larger issues or debates. Offers facts
without context or analysis.
15
Definition of Rubric's Elements:
Clarification
5
Clear, specified position within a specific discipline or field that contributes to knowledge in
that discipline or field
4
Clear and fairly detailed position taken
3
Takes a clear position on a specific issue
2
Implies a position, but does not clearly state it or identify it with any specificity
1
No position either implicitly or explicitly taken
Analysis and Evaluation
5
Creates either a new way to look at evidence or bring a different kind of evidence to bear on
issue being discussed
4
Uses evidence in a complex manner, makes connection between types of evidence, and clearly
shows how evidence supports the claim being made
3
Writer specifically connects relevant evidence to support claim
2
Some evidence presented, but relevance and value of evidence is unclear
1
No evidence presented or the evidence is completely irrelevant
Assumptions
5
Questions, refines, or supports the major assumptions upon which the field or area is based
4
Identifies assumptions and shows a sophisticated understanding of their import. Clearly
identifies how ways of knowing can be based on differing assumptions.
3
Identifies the assumptions upon which his/her argument hinges and explores their meaning or
value. Begins to differentiate ways of knowing
2
Suggests implicitly how base assumptions affect knowledge or application of knowledge in this
particular instance
1
No discussion implicitly or explicitly of relevant assumptions.
Consequences or Implications
5
Demonstrates how the consequences of this argument will help resolve other issues or
problems in this or other fields
4
Connects this arguments to related issues in other fields and/or areas within the field
3
Identifies logical or probable consequences of argument
2
Suggests, but does not fully explain the logical or probable consequences of the argument
1
No discussion of consequences or discussion is unrealistic or illogical
Consideration of alternatives
5
Considers full range of arguments in the area and weighs the strengths and weaknesses of each
position. Clearly demonstrates a command of the area and the ways that the field is developing
and how this argument fits into the area or discipline
4
Identifies logical alternative views. Treats them as serious intellectual positions and provides a
cogent and well-reasoned argument why his/her position is better
3
Identifies at least one logical alternative view. Treats it as a serious intellectual position and
provides reasons why their arguments is better than the alternative
2
Suggests an alternative or opposing view, but does not treat it seriously or does not offer
reasons why reader should choose one or the other.
1
No discussion of alternative views or merely identification of silly or illogical positions.
16
Oral Presentation Criteria
Criteria for Evaluating Oral Presentations
1 = poorly 7 = with excellence
Did the speaker:
1
2
3
1. Open with impact and capture the
audience's attention?
2. Draw the audience's attention to the
central point of the speech?
3. Connect with the audience by showing
the relevance to them?
4. Present a thesis statement, so
that the central idea is clear?
5. Present the main points clearly with
examples and evidence?
6. Summarize the main points of the
speech?
7. Close with impact by leaving a lasting
impression?
8. Use language appropriate to the subject
and the audience?
9. Use voice and non-verbal behavior
conducive to listening?
17
4
5
6
7