Group Presentation Rubric

By the time I give my students the rubric for their group presentation, we've gone over almost everything that's on it.  The only thing left is to put it all together.  The group presentation is where the students bring their entire argument into focus by putting all of their lenses and perspectives together.

Here's the copy that I hand out to my students:  PT1 GROUP PRESENTATION RUBRIC.  It's broken down into the specific skills that are included in each row.

How to Get a Great Group Presentation Score

After my students have watched the Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates videos that I use to introduce presentations, one of the things that I tell them is that a great presentation is never an accident.  It's always the result of reflection and practice.

1.  OUTLINE YOUR TALK AND TRY IT OUT

Once students have an outline, they can start to practice their presentations.  I encourage them to try them out at home, preferably in front of someone willing to provide useful feedback.  

This practice is the only way to figure out what works and what doesn't.  Don't be afraid to tinker with the presentation at this point to ensure that it works fluidly. 

2.  PRACTICE WITH YOUR GROUP

Once students feel comfortable with their parts of the presentation, they should definitely practice with their groups.  This is the only way to ensure that transitions between speakers are smooth - there's nothing more awkward than a group of presenters looking at one another nervously to determine who speaks next.  This goes a long way toward scoring well on the Collaboration row of the rubric.

Grading Standards 2, 3 & 4

In previous posts this week, we've analyzed how Rows 1, 5 & 6 for the Individual Research Reports from Performance Task 1 are graded. Today we'll finish with Rows 2, 3 and 4.

Each of these rows can be assigned a score of 2, 4 or 6.

ROW 2:  Understanding &  Analyzing Argument

To get a perfect score of 6 for this row, the Performance Task must:

• Incorporates specific information from sources (uses quotations or paraphrase)
• Establishes a Line of Reasoning in the research
• Offers a solution to the stated problem

To obtain a perfect score for this section, students have to use specific, cited information from their sources in their Individual Research Reports. This information can be paraphrased or include a direct quotation and must be cited. The evidence must be judiciously chosen to support the line of reasoning in the paper. If the student is just throwing in random quotations, they will not score well in this Row.

In addition, their argument must offer at least one possible solution to the stated problem.

ROW 3:  Analyzing Sources & Evidence

To get a perfect score of 6 for this row, the Performance Task must:

• Controls development of the argument - sources are used deliberately to build the argument (again, the sources are not just thrown in as random, loosely-related facts)
• Credibility is addressed through attributive introductions

The first criteria for Row 3 seems redundant to me since using the sources to build an LOR in the argument is already part of the criteria for Row 2.

The second criteria addresses the student's ability to evaluate the credibility of a source.

For example, a student could introduce a fact or direct quotation by employing attributive introductions like the following:

According to John Smith, an expert in the field, ... 

Jane Doe, a renowned scientist, states that...

As published in the highly respected Journal of the American Chemical Society, ...

Row 4:  Understand and Analyze Perspective

To get a perfect score of 6 for this row, the Performance Task must:

• Discuss the topic through a range of perspectives
• Draw relevant connections between the perspectives

Again, this Row seems redundant to me, since perspectives are already part of the grade for Row 1. I'm not sure why the College Board includes some of the criteria in multiple rows, but it is what it is.

I hope this discussion of the grading for the IRR for PT 1 has been helpful to some of the newer teachers.  

Next week, I'll share some of my PT1 Outlines that help my students make sense of Performance Task 1.  

Grading Standard 1

Row 1 of the Rubric for the Individual Research Report of Performance Task 1 is arguably the most important since it directs the standards for the entire paper.  Prepare yourself - this is a long post!

Students can score a 2, 4 or 6 on this Row.

Row 1:  Understanding &  Analyzing Context

To get a perfect score of 6 for this row, the Performance Task must:

1. Clearly identify an area of investigation within one lens
2. Identify multiple perspectives within that lens
3. Show connections among perspectives through the use of transitions and in the conclusion
4. Address counterarguments/limitations
5. Discuss viable solutions to the problem
6. Demonstrate use of a wide variety of sources in formulating the argument

This Row basically sets the outline for the entire IRR. It's imperative that your students understand how they'll be scored in this row. If they don't understand the grading, they probably don't truly understand what they have to write.

1. Each student will examine their group's argument from a different lens.  Remember, the eight lenses are: scientific, economic, environmental, social & cultural, ethical, artistic & philosophical, political & historical and futuristic.

2. Within that lens, they must identify at least two perspectives.

For example:

If a group is arguing that the United States should expand its nuclear energy resources, one student might argue from an economic lens that nuclear energy is cost-effective compared to other sources of energy because uranium is relatively inexpensive compared to other sources of energy (perspective 1). In addition, the costs for running a nuclear reactor are low (perspective 2).

A second student might write from a futuristic lens and argue that switching to nuclear energy is wise since there is a limitless fuel source, while fossil fuels are expected to run out (perspective 1). In addition, nuclear energy does not produce greenhouse gases and could help to minimize the threat of global warming (perspective 2).

3. This component of the grade relates to writing style. The student must use effective transitions to show connections between the perspectives. Basically, the perspectives have to be linked to the same issue - they can't just be random ideas that are thrown together. 

For example:

A student might write, "In addition to the low fuel costs for nuclear reactors, the reactors themselves have low running costs."

"In addition to" relates the low running costs for the reactors to the low fuel costs and strengthens the overall argument that nuclear energy is cost-effective.

In addition, students need to summarize their perspectives in the conclusion of their IRR.

4. Students must address possible counterarguments or limitations of their solutions.

For example:

Despite the fact that nuclear reactors do not contribute greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, critics argue that spent fuel must be transported from the reactors to a safe location. The transport of the spent fuel does contribute greenhouse gases.

5. Students must offer viable solutions to the problem.

For example:

By building nuclear reactors close to facilities that can safely store spent fuel, transport would be limited and the contribution of greenhouse gases from transportation would be minimized.

6. Each IRR must demonstrate that a wide variety of credible sources were used to develop the argument. The bibliography must show that students did not get all of their information from area. For example, if the students only cite web pages in their bibliography, this does not constitute a rich and wide variety of sources. However, if they cite web pages, academic journals and a TED talk, they have shown that their information comes from a variety of sources.

Truthfully, I think that the College Board packs waaay too many criteria into this Row. There are too many things that a student can do right and still end up losing points because there's something else that went wrong. Nevertheless, as of the 2016-2017 school year, these are the criteria that a student must master to get a perfect score for Row 1.

Grading Standards 5 & 6

This week we're looking at each row of the grading rubric for the Individual Research Report (IRR) component of Performance Task 1 (PT1). We'll break down what a student needs to do to get a perfect score.  We'll start with the two easiest rows to grade.

ROW 5: Apply Conventions

This row grades the student's citations. The possible grades for this row are 1, 2 or 3.

To get a perfect score of 3 for this row, the IRR must:

• Have no mistakes in citation or attribution
• Cite each source correctly in the bibliography
• Employ consistent formatting throughout the bibliography

Before we dissect what each of these factors means, it's important to note that the College Board does not dictate the method of citation. Students can use MLA, APA or any other recognized method of citation and they will not lose points so long as they apply it correctly.

Every source that's used to gather evidence for the IRR must be appropriately cited in the bibliography. Every piece of evidence included in the IRR must be cited. Students lose points here if they include evidence from a source in their IRR but neglect to cite the source that their information came from. They can also lose points if the cite the evidence to the wrong source. It's imperative that students double and triple check their citations to ensure that they are all included and that they are attributed to the correct sources.

The last item is concerned with the students' formatting of their bibliographies. It must remain consistent throughout. For example, students can lose points if they underline the title of one article, italicize the title of a second, put the title of a third in all capitals, etc. Even if every citation and source is included and correct, messing up the formatting will knock a student's grade down to a 2.

ROW 6: Apply Conventions

This row grades the IRR based on spelling and grammar.

To get a perfect score of 3 for this row, the Performance Task must:

• Have few/minor errors in spelling and grammar

That's it. The more spelling and grammar errors the student makes in the IRR, the lower score. In my experience, the student can still get a perfect score even if there are a few spelling or grammar errors. However, they must be minor and there can't be a lot of them, maybe two or three at the most. The more errors and the more egregious they are, the lower this score goes.