Goal: Graduates are able to communicate effectively in plain English and with technical precision
Unsatisfactory
Satisfactory
Exemplary
Effective communication
Abstract / Summary
Organization / Focus
No summary, or
summary is too
technical
Incoherent
Follow-through
At least one major
claim is not accurate.
Style / Tone
Too informal or overly
pompous
Grammar / Punctuation / Spelling
Distracting
/ Formatting
Citation of sources
Sources are not cited
Summary that can be
read with difficulty
Summary that is easy to read
Paper has a clear focus and is clearly
Organization / focus is
organized so that the reader knows
there, but not clear to
where they are in the narrative /
the reader
analysis
Claims such as "We
Major objectives of the paper are
predicted in the introduction and come
will prove…" are
true in the paper.
accurate
Appropriate for a
Appropriate for an academic journal
student paper
A few minor errors
No detected errors
Sources are cited, but
perhaps lacking some
detail
Sources are cited carefully and
accurately
Key ideas are defined
and key assumptions
are stated
All terms are carefully defined and
assumptions are clearly stated
Technical precision
Definitions / Assumptions
Appropriate use of technical
language
Some or all key
definitions or
assumptions are left
out
I don't think that word
means what you think
it means
Enough detail to check / replicate Not enough detail
Conclusions are correct
Technical language is
used correctly, for the
most part
Reader must fill in a
few details, but it is not
too hard to guess what
the writer was thinking
or doing
At least one key
Key conclusions are
conclusion is incorrect correct
Prof. C. Melles, cgg@usna.edu
All technical language is used
correctly
Enough details that the reader can
easily check the proofs or replicate
the analysis
All conclusions are correct