A note on analytic rubrics: If you decide you feel more comfortable grading with an analytic rubric, you

can assign a point value to each concept. The drawback to this method is that it can sometimes unfairly

penalize a student who has a good understanding of the problem but makes a lot of minor errors. Also, one

must assign a point-value to every type of error made by your students, and the variety of mistakes can be

staggering. Because the analytic method tends to have many more parts, the method can take quite a bit

more time to apply. In the end, your analytic rubric should give results that agree with the common-sense

assessment of how well the student understood the problem. This sense is well captured by the holistic

method.

An introductory-level, large-lecture course is a difficult setting for managing a student research assignment.

With the assistance of an instructional support team that included a GSI teaching consultant and a UC

Berkeley librarian, sociology lecturer Mary Kelsey developed the following assignment:

Write a seven- to eight-page essay in which you make an argument about the relationship between social

factors and educational opportunity. To complete the assignment, you will use electronic databases to gather

data on three different high schools (including your own). You will use this data to locate each school within

the larger social structure and to support your argument about the relationship between social status and

public school quality. In your paper you should also reflect on how your own personal educational

opportunities have been influenced by the social factors you identify. Course readings and materials should

be used as background, to define sociological concepts and to place your argument within a broader

discussion of the relationship between social status and individual opportunity. Your paper should be clearly

organized, proofread for grammar and spelling, and all scholarly ideas must be cited using the ASA style

manual.

This was a lengthy and complex assignment worth a substantial portion of the course grade. Since the class

was very large, the instructor wanted to minimize the effort it would take her GSIs to grade the papers in a

manner consistent with the assignment’s learning objectives. For these reasons Dr. Kelsey and the

instructional team gave a lot of forethought to crafting a detailed grading rubric.


A note on analytic rubrics : If you decide you feel more comfortable grading with an analytic rubric , you can assign a point value to each concept . The drawback to this method is that it can sometimes unfairly penalize a student who has a good understanding of the problem but makes a lot of minor errors . Also , one must assign a point - value to every type of error made by your students , and the variety of mistakes can be staggering . Because the analytic method tends to have many more parts , the method can take quite a bit more time to apply . In the end , your analytic rubric should give results that agree with the common - sense assessment of how well the student understood the problem . This sense is well captured by the holistic method . An introductory - level , large - lecture course is a difficult setting for managing a student research assignment . With the assistance of an instructional support team that included a GSI teaching consultant and a UC Berkeley librarian , sociology lecturer Mary Kelsey developed the following assignment : Write a seven- to eight - page essay in which you make an argument about the relationship between social factors and educational opportunity . To complete the assignment , you will use electronic databases to gather data on three different high schools ( including your own ) . You will use this data to locate each school within the larger social structure and to support your argument about the relationship between social status and public school quality . In your paper you should also reflect on how your own personal educational opportunities have been influenced by the social factors you identify . Course readings and materials should be used as background , to define sociological concepts and to place your argument within a broader discussion of the relationship between social status and individual opportunity . Your paper should be clearly organized , proofread for grammar and spelling , and all scholarly ideas must be cited using the ASA style manual . This was a lengthy and complex assignment worth a substantial portion of the course grade . Since the class was very large , the instructor wanted to minimize the effort it would take her GSIs to grade the papers in a manner consistent with the assignment ’s learning objectives . For these reasons Dr. Kelsey and the instructional team gave a lot of forethought to crafting a detailed grading rubric .