Grading Guidelines

Basic Concepts of New Media

Dr. Philip N. Howard

Department Communication

University of Washington

We use these guidelines for grading.  We have put them online so that you can see how we make our decisions about a grade for an assignment. The best way to catch most of these mistakes is by asking a friend to proofread your assignment before you submit it to us.

·         Is spelling and basic grammar perfect?

·         If this is an essay, does it have a thesis statement, and do its paragraphs have topic sentences?

·         How closely does the essay follow the assignment instructions?

·         How does the writing style and analytical insight compare with peers?

·         Does the author use gender-neutral language?

·         Is the essay too far above or below the word limit?

·         Are references formatted according to the APA style?

·         Are significant chunks of text pasted in from online documents?

If your assignment is not submitted on the due date, it will receive a zero. For many essay assignments, there is 500-word limit. We’ll give you a grace of between 450 and 550 words, but if you go outside this grace, your assignment will receive a zero.

Each paper will be graded separately and evaluated according to the following criteria.

1. quality of reasoning and insights;

2. quality of the example and connections to course concepts and readings;

3. appropriate use and citation of outside sources;

4. writing that makes the ideas easy to understand and appreciate through good organization, correct grammar and spelling and respect for the word limit.

The following scale shows what it takes to earn a better than average grade. The down arrow indicates the omissions and lapses that will lead to a below average grade. Plagiarism will result in an automatic zero for that assignment.

An excellent paper will show depth of thought and a thorough understanding and application of course concepts and readings. The analysis will be insightful and supported by several strong examples from lectures and/or readings. The evaluation will show original thought and logical links to the analysis. The paper will be very well-organized and well-written, with correct grammar and spelling.

An average paper will meet the requirements of the assignment, with adequate analysis, evaluation and reference sections.

A paper that fails to meet the basic requirements will lose points for failing to analyze or evaluate, for superficial explanations, lack of examples, poor organization and/or sloppy editing.