Essay Assessment
The purpose of the Essay Assessment is to give you the opportunity to summarize and synthesize the readings you have completed to this point in the semester. According to our Assignment Schedule, you have read:
• All of Geography for Life
• All of Why Not Here?
• The articles by Fien, Lambert and Balderstone, Weigand, and the chapters from the Texas Social Studies Framework.
What have you learned from reading all of this material? What are the key organizing concepts and explanatory theories of geography? What are effective ways to teach it to others? I could pose an essay question and have you complete it, but because this class is about you beginning to think like a teacher, I want you to grapple with an appropriate question.
Your first task is to develop an essay question which is broad enough to give an individual an opportunity to show what he or she knows yet specific enough to provide guidance and challenge the student. The question should give the answerer a chance to integrate knowledge from everything we have read and done this semester, that is, all the materials assigned to be read.
You need to be explicit in identifying the key parts to the essay question you wish to have addressed. In other words, it won't work to say,
"What is geography?"
You will need to write,
"Compare and contrast the various definitions of geography we have discussed this semester. Be sure to comment on (a) the identified purposes of geography in the curriculum, (b) how each definition justifies and conceptualizes the discipline in the broader context of society, and (c) ways in which each of the three conceptualizations affects school curriculum. Which conceptualization fits closest to your personal philosophical view of geography?"
No, you can't use this essay.
Once you identify the question:
On the day of the assessment, bring to class:
1. Your essay question typed on a single sheet of paper. This is the essay assessment. It will be given to a fellow student to answer. Do not write your name on this but please write the first digits of your SSN on it at the bottom of the page.
2. Your essay question and the ideal answer, typed on a single sheet of paper (front and back ok). You will use this to evaluate the completed essay assessment and then I will evaluate it. Be sure your name is on this.
3. Notebook paper to answer the essay you receive.
Procedure
1. I will collect all the one-page essay assessments and assign each a number which corresponds to you but maintains your anonymity.
2. Then I will randomly distribute these in class. You will have 50 minutes to answer the essay you receive. Remember, you may use any notes you have taken on the readings but not the actual books or articles.
3. At the end of 50 minutes, I will collect the essays and return them to the creaters. You will then have 15 minutes to evaluate the answers based on your ideal essay answer, write comments, and assign a grade.
The grade assigned will vary between 0-15 points:
A=15
excellent, complete, addresses all major points, comprehensive,
clear, uses all materials fluently
B=10
good, fairly complete, addresses most major points, uses most
materials
C=5
fair, not complete, not on target in all respects, misses major
points you think ought to have been made.
D=0
insufficient
Grades
Seventy percent of your grade will be based on your essay topic and answer (my decision). Fifteen percent of your grade will be based on the comments and evaluation you write on your classmate's answer and the remainder of your grade will be derived from the grade you receive on the essay from the grader.
Scoring Rubric, Geog 355 Midterm
Overall general
impression 5 10 15 Importance of
question 5 10 15 20 Clarity of essay
answer 5 10 15 Integration from various
sources 5 10 15 20 Quality of review
comments 5 10 15 Grade from
Answer 5 10 15