Grading procedures

Grading procedures

'The A students get hired by the B students, who end up working for the C students.'   Al McGuire

I will grade on a straight percentage:

top of page

Assignment descriptions

Mid-term exam  

This will be a take-home exam. I will give it to you on Thursday of week 4, and you'll need to turn it in by the beginning of class on Monday (week 5).

The mid-term is worth 100 points.

top of page

Homelessness project

There are two points to the homelessness project. The first is to understand the problem--it's one of those invisible problems, especially in a place like La Grande, and although it may not be as pervasive as other problems, there are likely huge gaps in coverage to address it (and many of the people affected are likely children). In addition, we're reading Wagner's book, which just happens to be an excellent social science look at the subculture of a 'homeless' community. Second, in studying homelessness, particularly its local dimensions, you'll have to educate yourselves about various aspects of the local welfare system, the private, public and non-profit, as well as the other individuals and institutions not generally associated with welfare (e.g., what role do restaurants play in feeding people with no place to go and no money to eat?). So it's a bonus, you see--you get the content, and the process, all rolled into one! Here's what I've got from our discussions this week:

1. Journal

This will be turned in by each individual. It should include observations you've made, as well as documentation and analysis of those observations, whether they be of group dynamics--dysfunctional and otherwise (sociological insight often comes from the most unexpected places, and some of the most uncomfortable events are the most indelibly etched ...)--or actual observations having to do with people you interview, the process of information-gathering about this, particular institutions or offices you've interacted with (e.g., law enforcement, the schools), difficulties of gaining access, getting by gatekeepers, etc. Not all of the insights will reflect success stories, but they should all reflect learning of some sort. This is how you'll be held accountable for your level of effort, and I'll compare it to what you said you'd do in the next section.

2. Goal statements

You should have this to me by midweek, preferably sooner. Here are some things you should lay out:

• State goals and objectives (objectives are more explicit, goals can be general; often for each goal there are a couple of objectives, ways of reaching it);
• Division of labor among group members--be explicit;
• Method (what are the steps for addressing your objectives? You should be pretty complete here--this is your road map, include everything--identifying appropriate contacts, finding contact numbers, making contacts, etc. (you can skip meals and bathroom breaks, though).
  • Each group member needs to work on the methods part for him/herself--again, I'm looking for thoughtfulness and detail here--have you thought all of this through, and do you have a set of things against which you can measure yourself in a couple of weeks?
• Transcribed, summarized, reflection on how well you met the goals
• 75 points possible on this part of the assignment (40 for the journal, 35 for reflection, which is your response to your goals statement)

3. Group presentation

• 20 minutes maximum for each group (we have five groups);
• grading criteria:
  • Relevance (did you address your stated goals? How well? If not, did you discuss why?)
  • Importance (did you convey the most important points of what your group did?)
  • broad participation (did each member play a meaningful part in the presentation?)
  • 1-2 page distillation, one turned in for the entire group (how well did you incorporate each members' contributions?)
  • 25 points (15 for the presentation, 10 for the summary)

KEEP IN MIND: The take-home exam will be a reflection of your work on this project, and on the Wagner book and our discussions of the topic of homelessness. If you put the effort into the journal and the analysis sections, you will likely benefit when it comes time to do the take-home exam.

Haven from Hunger

We will spend the last six weeks of the course working on and presenting our work on the Haven from Hunger project. That should give you an idea of the importance I'll attach to it, and it reflects the 200 points possible--40% of your overall point total. We will use this time not only to work on various projects and build Haven from Hunger from the bottom up, but to examine some of the relationships between local hunger and social welfare. Most of the readings will be about social capital and the community, and I will expect that each of your groups and as individuals you will begin to incorporate some of the important concepts and insights we read about into what you're doing in your projects, and into your presentation and papers. Most of this work will be undertaken in small groups. As with the homelessness project, we will focus on a specific subject area, but you will be learning about how various organizations and individuals in town address the problem (i.e., how it fits in to the local welfare system), and where La Grande stands vis a vis the rest of the state, nation, etc.

Group project

The projects may vary widely, and we'll discuss the possibilities later in the term. What follows are some of the things that will be important for evaluation:

A plan:

• Statement of goals (goals can be general, objectives represent more specific ways to achieve them, and methods show how)
  • Are they thoughtful (did you obviously put some effort into them)?
  • Are they achievable/feasible?
  • Do they reflect the broader Haven from Hunger project goals (how do they fit in with the broader project)?
• Objectives
  • For instance, if your goal was to conduct a non-food item drive, objectives would describe how-door-to-door, from storefronts, on-campus, etc.
• Methods
  • What specific steps must you take in order to meet your objectives (identify important contact, how you'll contact them, what role they'll play, where goods will be stored, how you'll handle transport, whether you'll accept donations and how you'll handle them, etc. the methods section is the most detailed, and it is where you can begin dividing tasks among group members.
    Points?
• group vs individual
  • the plan needs to include not only how the group has decided to divide labor, but how each individual plans to undertake his/her part of the overall project.
• 25 points possible for the plan. 15 for the groups' part, and 10 for each individual's description of what he/she will do.

Analysis and reflection paper

• No longer than 10 pages, double-spaced. I'll look to see that you addressed what you said you would do (that doesn't mean you can't change, but you'll need to explain it if you did).
• Include a brief abstract (what you set out to do, findings), as well as any data you collected (you can include this stuff as appendices, send it to me electronically, etc.)
• I'll look for:
  • evidence of effort on the part of each group member--I will match what each group member said he/she would do with the write-up of your group's activities in the final paper. It would be good to keep some sort of journal as you go through this--remember there is a reflection piece as part of the participation grade.
  • thoughtfulness in your analysis
  • integration--how does what you did fit within the Haven from Hunger project and the local welfare system?
• 75 points possible for the reflection paper; 50 for the group effort, 25 for the individual contributions evidenced in the report.

Presentations (what form should they take, how should they be evaluated?)

• relevance (to what you've done, to what we've covered in the course); 10 points
• importance (did you hit the highlights?); 10 points
• participation (was everyone involved in meaningful ways?); 10 points
• media used (something besides talking heads behind a podium. Be creative, I will help any way I can, but don't go crazy here spending weeks working on a web/powerpoint presentation). 5 points
• summary (a 1-2 page distillation of what your group did, how it went, and what you learned); 15 points
• 50 points altogether

Two in-class small group discussions

• I'll provide details as we go. We'll likely incorporate the hunger project and reading material for these.

50 points possible--25 for each.

Checksheet

This should help you with some of the pieces of the project:

Project goals:

• Raising awareness
• Building social capital
• More complete knowledge of the local problems
• Alleviate hunger and food insecurity

Labor:

• estimates of labor costs
• hrs of labor, specific tasks, resources needs, such as a vehicle
• sources? Have you made any contacts to get these on a regular basis?

Materials:

• ANY materials, supplies-this is important not to forget
• we need estimates if we're going to get money;
• ongoing sources of money (you at least should identify best bets, and whether you've talked to anyone)
• sustainability-are these costs the same over time? Will they go up/down if the project is done on a regular basis?

Social capital:

• groups/individuals/organizations
• info about the organization (mission, size, etc.), contact information, gatekeepers, etc.
• what is their contribution to the sustainability of the project-in other words, prioritize these based on which are most important to the success of the project
• self-interest-why are they involved?
• Maintenance-what needs to be done to keep them involved? This also gets at interest level (and some might be more interested than others within a group/organization)

Barriers:

• Individuals who don't support the project
• 'weak links' in the social capital network (e.g., Salvation Army as a food bank, WalMart as a good community neighbor)
• difficulties securing labor, materials, etc.
  § lack of continuity (that could reduce external support for the project)
• logistical issues (e.g., health dept. regulations, difficulties securing space for events)
• try to come up with some ways that these barriers can be addressed
• Remember we talked about different kinds of 'biases' that prevent people from participating?

Awareness-raising:

• if you have an event, what strategy(ies) will you suggest to publicize it, and why?
• If your event is mostly about awareness-raising, how will it work to raise awareness, and how will you know it was effective?

Evaluating success

• What measures will let you know if your efforts have had an impact (e.g., how to measure food/other items collected, what information to collect about an event)?
  

top of page

Class participation

Because of the nature of this class, I will be taking attendance. Each day of class is worth one point. You get one unexcused, two excused absences. 'Participation' can mean facilitating or getting others to contribute, offering original ideas, displaying your knowledge and preparation, showing that you can think critically about course materials, etc. I may on occasion ask you at the end of a week (Thursday or Friday) to respond to a question I give you in class. This isn't a pop quiz-there are no points per se, but I will incorporate these into my evaluation of your participation (so if you're not there for them, it will likely affect your participation grade). Thirty points will come in the form of a reflection paper I'll ask you to write at the end of the term, reflecting on the course and the small group dynamics. If you take notes as you go, this will be a much easier task when you get around to doing it. The last 20 points will come from a couple of reflection papers at the end of class time I'll ask you to write. I'll be looking to see that you're not only engaged in the practical activities, but that you're following along in the readings and able to incorporate them into what we're doing in class. Each will be worth 10 points, and I'll probably do this three times (you can throw out your lowest score).

Here’s the way points will break down for participation:

• 30 points will come in the form of a reflection paper I'll ask you to write at the end of the term, reflecting on the small group activities. I’ll give you some material during the term to help with this, and we’ll discuss it in class from time to time.
• 15 points will come from a journal documenting your small group activities, which you’ll turn in with your paper (and which, if done well, should form the basis for your paper), at the end of the ninth week.
• 40 points for attendance. We will take roll every day. I’ll throw out one day for every week of the term, but you won’t know which day (and neither do I, yet).
• 15 points are possible for general participation in classroom activity—this means making your presence known, asking questions, interacting in small groups, essentially making a valuable contribution to the quality of the class experience.

100 points are possible for participation.