iRubric: Seminar in Africana Studies - Freedom Dreams rubric

The topic is cutting edge, relevant, groundbreaking, or significant to the field and potential audience. The topic’s scope is focused narrowly enough for the time constraints and requirements of the assignment.
Student provides the necessary background to contextualize the topic.

The topic is current, important, and appropriate to the field and potential audience. The topic is specific and well-drawn but its scope requires further narrowing to meet time constraints and the assignment requirements. The presentation of the background to establish the context could use more development.

The topic is only tangentially related to the field and is not current but may still possess some relevance to the field and potential audience; the topic is focused but lacks additional direction; the topic’s scope is too broad for the time constraints and the assignment requirements. The topic is vague and merely introduces (not fully delineating) the context and background of the chosen topic.

Topic is not current and/or lacks importance or appropriateness to the field or is otherwise unclearly defined. The topic’s scope/lens is too narrow. The topic is severely underdeveloped and does not convincingly introduce and/or analyze its background to provide proper context.

The paper conforms to
rules of chosen format
The paper is 250 words, double spaced.

The paper
conforms to
rules for formatting with
minor exceptions. The paper is 249-230 words.

The paper is plagued with frequent errors in use of chosen
format, student uses a variety of formatting styles, with some inconsistencies throughout the paper. The paper is 229-215 words.

The paper reflects a lack of
formatting or numerous
errors in use of chosen format,
the paper reflects a lack of
format or style and numerous
errors. Paper has more than 250 words or fewer than 215 words.

Bibliography includes 5-7 scholarly/peer-reviewed sources. Sources
include general background and
specialized sources. The bibliography consistently models the APA language conventions or Chicago 17th ed. (author-date) format. Electronic sources are identified correctly. Original sources are clearly identified and correctly cited. There are no errors in the bibliography.

Bibliography includes only 3 or 4 scholarly/peer-reviewed sources. Sources
include general background and
specialized sources. While there were minor errors, conventions for APA style and format are used consistently throughout the document. The majority of electronic sources are cited correctly. There are 3 errors or fewer in the bibliography.

Bibliography includes only 2 or 3 scholarly/peer-reviewed sources. Sources
include only general background sources or only
specialized sources. There are consistent citing mistakes made within the body of the bibliography. Electronic sources are incorrectly cited. There are 4 or 5 errors in the bibliography.

Bibliography includes only 1 or 2 scholarly/peer-reviewed sources. Sources
include only general background sources or only
specialized sources. There are numerous citation errors and a failure to follow APA convention. This includes: references out of alphabetical order, incomplete reference information, incorrect identification of sources, incorrect sequence within individual references, and various mistakes in convention. There are more than 5 errors in the bibliography.