COEVOLUTION - BIOL 508, Fall 2002

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Scoring Rubrics
   Quizzes
   Active Reading
   In-Class Presentations

Scoring Rubric for Quizzes:  Three Levels of Achievement

Exemplary (6 pts)
General Approach. Addresses the question. States a relevant, correct answer. Presents arguments in a logical order. Uses acceptable style and grammar (no errors).
Comprehension. Demonstrates a clear and complete understanding of the question. Backs conclusions with scientific information and justification. Uses 2 or more ideas, examples and/or arguments that support their answer.

Adequate (4 pts)
General Approach. Does not address the question explicitly, although does so tangentially. States a somewhat relevant and justifiable answer. Presents arguments in a logical order. Uses acceptable style and grammar (1-2 errors).
Comprehension. Demonstrates only minimal understanding of question because does not back conclusions with scientific information and justification. Uses only one idea to support the answer. Less thorough than above.

Needs Improvement (2 pt)
General Approach. Does not address the question. States no relevant answers. Indicates misconceptions. Is not clearly or logically organized. Fails to use acceptable style and grammar (two or more errors).
Comprehension. Does not demonstrate understanding of the question. Does not provide evidence to support their answer to the question.

No Answer (0 pts) -- --

Not all of these criteria will apply to all questions. ]

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Scoring Rubric for Active Reading
Three Levels of Achievement
(2 pts possible for each definition ...)

Exemplary (2 pts)
Presents a clear definition of the words or phrase. Demonstrates a clear and complete understanding of the words or phrase. Clarifies terms in the context of the chapter topic, or gives a relevant example. Written using a scholarly style and grammar (no errors).

Adequate (1 pts)
"Dictionary definition" only. Does not clarify the terms in the context of the chapter topic, or gives no relevant example. Some writing style, grammar, or spelling errors.

Needs Improvement (0 pt)
Does not present an explicit or clear definition of the words or phrase. Definition is not presented in a biological context. Demonstrates only minimal understanding of the terms. Uses unacceptable style and grammar.

]   Not all of these criteria will apply to all questions. ]

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Grading Scheme for In-Class Presentations
Max.= 50 pts Group Score

Choice of papers (max 10 pts):
Were they appropriate for the topic (coevolution)?

10 pts: exemplary- 2 very appropriate papers; no question that they were relevant to the course & week’s topic

7 pts: adequate- for example, both papers were somewhat related to the course & week’s topic, but the connection was not initially obvious

4 pts: not adequate - for example, only one paper was really relevant

Main content of the presentation (max 30 pts):
Problems/theories/interactions addressed in papers - were these clarified ?
If methods were presented - were they clarified?
Vocabulary - were critical terms clarified?
References provided?
(or in other words - When the presentation was over did you understand ... problems, theories, interactions described in the papers? ... the methods? ... the critical terms - that you couldn’t look up yourself (vocabulary)?)

30 pts: exemplary - for example, the presentation helped me fully understand the papers and their relation to the topic of the week. Problems, ideas, and/or theories addressed in the paper were clear to me; arguments supporting the ideas were clear also. I could explaining this to my roommate this afternoon.

20 pts: adequate - for example, the presentation helped me understand the interactions mentioned in the paper, but the overall theory didn’t come across. OR the overall theory or point of the paper was clear, but how the authors supported the ideas was "muddy" (unclear).

10 pts: needed improvement - for example, the presentation seemed to go over some of the ideas in the papers, but the ideas were not synthesized to help us understand the main concepts. I’m more confused about the topic now than I was before class.

5 pts: needed major work - for example, only clarified terms. Discussion of content was scattered and I couldn’t follow it at all.

Conclusions regarding evolution & coevolution (max 10 pts)
Were they presented and discussed?

10 pts: exemplary - 2 very appropriate papers; no question that they were relevant to the course & week’s topic

7 pts: adequate - for example, both papers were somewhat related to the course & week’s topic, but the connection was not initially obvious

4 pts: not adequate - for example, only one paper was really relevant