Update: All links fixed. I think.
It was great meeting all the new people and reacquainting with the old people. One thing I forgot to announce in the Tuesday afternoon section... you are free to switch to the Monday night section, which would benefit me by evening things out. (10 in one and 21 in the other!) Or if you need to attend the other one once or twice because of a scheduling conflict, that would be fine too. It's not the best because your assigned partners won't be there, but as a back-up let's say.
Reminders:
-Share 390 proposal with Aaron on Google Docs if you have not already done so. (This is only necessary for last semester's students if you have made substantive changes.) Email attachment is fine as a backup if you're having trouble with Google Docs. Note: you will generally not get a confirmation from Aaron when you send a document, because he gets like 50 every day and can't immediately respond to all of them. You will get notification if something didn't work!
-Write a test post in the blog comments if you have not already done so.
-Read Boix-Mansilla & Duraisingh article.
-Read sample papers and mark as instructed. The samples and instructions are posted in the "Sample Projects" page above.
-Meet with your faculty mentor as soon as possible. Here's the form to give them. Click that link, then File -> Download original, and you can print the PDF or email it to them.
Two questions: You said that we need only send you our proposals if they changed substantially from last semester. Am I to guess that you mean this for your former students, or did Jeannie forward proposals from those of us who didn't have you for 390?
ReplyDeleteI will also try to do the Google doc thing. I was able to pull one up under my name, but I've only used "groups" before and not "docs," so I may need a bit of instruction as to how to get it to you.
Additionally, the sample projects are coming up as "not found" or "uploaded incorrectly."
ReplyDeleteHello Dr. Winter,
ReplyDeleteI was not able to open the sample papers. when i click the sample, another page opens and it says that it is not uploaded or URL is wrong.
please advice.
Madiha
Beth... yes, I meant substantial changes to projects I had already read in December. I need to read all the ones I've never read before. Now let me check those links...
ReplyDeleteLinks fixed. Thanks for the heads up.
ReplyDeletegood morning. when i click wartime contracting, i get planning green. (when i click planning green, i get planning green^^v.) pleez fix the link. thnx
ReplyDeleteGood catch, Miyuki. I just finished printing two copies of the same article. :/
ReplyDeleteFixed. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteAaron, I did not make any changes to my paper, which I submitted to you yesterday on Google docs.
ReplyDeleteI get a 'page not found' when I try to get the form to give to my advisor - is the link broken for everyone else or maybe just a firewall issue for me?
ReplyDeleteNo, Elena, it's not just you.
ReplyDeleteHowever, you should have a copy attached to your syllabus if Aaron can't get this fixed before you need it.
Elena, There appears to be a problem with the link, but the form is also Appendix A (page 10) in the syllabus, in case that helps in the meantime. Stay safe and warm everyone, Gail
ReplyDeleteReview of sample projects:
ReplyDeleteBloom – Wartime Contracting –
Uses clear analytical framework or methodology: C – Analytical framework used is not clear or may be absent
Evidence of interdisciplinary integration: C – The role of an interdisciplinary approach is not addressed in terms of overall understanding.
Bloom states the disciplines to be used in this study (law, public policy), and briefly mentions an intent to studying the disciplines and examine models and theories to determine a more effective management process for wartime contracts. But that is the only evidence of that approach. A review of the government agencies charged with regulating resources and procurement is offered. The two model offered for examination are disaster and contract management theories, but these appear to be government agency based models, not those grounded in either law or public policy. They could have been, I was not clear. As for the analytical approach, this was clearly an investigative analysis of existing data, but I did not get a compelling sense that the interdisciplinary perspective was a valued added perspective - the whole was not greater than the sum of the parts. I would have expected a legal perspective that highlighted the perceived contract mismanagement from a breakdown in how the contracts were set up and executed, integrated with a public policy perspective that offered insight on how the process breakdowns led to the non compliance of those legally binding contracts.
Planning Green –
Uses clear analytical framework or methodology: A - Explicitly explains the analytical framework used in the project – case study.
Evidence of interdisciplinary integration: A - Clear and effective use of integrative device, evidence that understanding has been enhanced by an interdisciplinary approach.
The Planning Green project states clearly from the start that the analytical framework is a case study of the re-planning and rebuilding efforts that took place in New Orleans, specifically the devastated 9th Ward, following hurricane Katrina. Beginning with an overview of current city planning processes, the study also included how non-profits have influenced the building of communities. Narrative analysis, including photography, was also effectively used to tell the story of the events and process of the green planning. Using photographs to help support a persuasive argument is a marketing technique, but this project went deeper into this process, using the interdisciplinary approach to tell a compelling story of green planning, not make a pitch.
Review of Sample Research Papers - Criteria: “Identifies and evaluates relevant and reliable research.” Grading: “Exemplary: Uses scholarly literature from relevant disciplines. Literature from popular or trade sources is contextualized for the reader; their use is clearly justified. Competent: Literature from two or more disciplines represented, but imbalanced without justification. Developing: Does not use scholarly literature from more than one discipline. Overuse of popular or trade literature without justification” (Winter, 2011, p. 12).
ReplyDeleteWartime Contracting
I felt that Bloom fell into the exemplary category for her Wartime Contracting paper based upon the criteria set forth in the grading rubric. Bloom’s project covered several disciplines: government, contract management, law, and public policy. The sources were primarily varied and relevant, and since many were government sources, they should be considered well-documented and reliable. Her sources were appropriate for the disciplines in her concentration, integrating well for this type of project. Although somewhat heavy in contract management and government, it appeared to me that several sources also encompassed the areas of public policy and the law, and based upon the subject matter, it was not unacceptable. In addition to the government and trade sources used, Bloom also cited several books and news outlets. The citations appeared to be balanced and appropriate for the subject matter.
This project involved analyzing data from various government reports and audits. Bloom extracted data from the Congressional Budget Office, the Commission on Wartime Contracting, USAID, the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Contract Audit Agency. Bloom also stated that she located expert recommendations published by the “National Contract Management Association via the Contract Management Magazine and the Journal of Contract Management” (Bloom, 2010, p. 11).
A report authored by Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), and material from the conservative nonprofit Heritage Foundation were also cited, but it appears that their use was appropriate. Additionally, Bloom cited well-respected and objective media sources such as BBC News, the New York Times and CBS News. The use of the media sources is justifiable, and along with the books cited, rounded out the heavier use of government sources. I liked how Bloom used a variety of unique sources, which I feel is important for balance and objectivity.
Planning Green
In Planning Green, I felt the project straddled the exemplary and competent grading criteria but would rate it exemplary based upon the grading rubric.
I felt the use of photography and personal interviews added interesting elements to this project. My one concern was that the student exhibited fewer unique sources than would be expected, and I think that there is the potential for a loss of balance and objectivity in a paper lacking a variety of unique sources. For example, Global Green was listed in the bibliography eight times and the U.S. Green Building Council was listed four times. The remaining six unique sources appeared somewhat diminished by the use of the Global Green and the U.S. Green Building Council citations. However, I realize that this project was a creative endeavor, and the nature of this project mitigated those concerns.
Regarding application of scholarly research from relevant disciplines, this project encompassed many areas of study. “The main disciplines that are involved in this research project include geography, economics, engineering and design, marketing, statistics, sociology, and photography” (Anonymous, 2010, p. 4). That is a lot of area to cover. The student explains nicely how the disciplines integrate well on the bottom of page four. This aided the reader in better understanding why the sources and materials were chosen for this project.
My six cents comment on sample proposal:
ReplyDeleteWartime Contracting
Overview on wartime contracting was very clearly specified. The introduction and specifications of duties by each government agencies were very well described in details.
However, the detailed activities as to how the Blackwater employees failed and worse by committing serious abuses in Iraq which included killing civilians was not clearly described- probably not necessary? I question this because of some audience who are not very familiar of crimes made by Blackwater. The effectiveness of the title is great. Altogether, the documents reveal the failure of the Blackwater forces contract with the federal gov’t.
Green Building
Contents of the pages regarding green building design, planning and preparation are extremely important which was well described and broken into detail on the paper. It has also added and established criterias on how a green building is constructed.
Project objectives and it’s aim was well written. Considering the old mantra where location is key is true in green building. Effectiveness on the “Cost” made it a very critical to select sites that would caused minimal disruption.
Review of Sample Projects:
ReplyDeleteCriteria: Demonstrates critical awareness
The Boix-Mansilla & Duraisingh article defines Critical Awareness in two parts:
1) Does the work frame the issue in such a way it is applicable to the different disciplines involved?
2) Does the work show self-reflection about the limitations?
Wartime Contracting by Melissa Bloom
C – Does not acknowledge any limitations to project.
I read and even re-read this paper, I found no evidence of limitations or self-reflection. The author covers a lot of very interesting and valid points but I can see that the paper would come off more scholarly if the scope was framed in with regard to the listed disciplines. I also feel it would be better if there was some acknowledgment of self-reflection and some recommendation like “further analysis of XYZ would shed more light on this issue…”
I have to admit that if I were looking over my project at this point I would give myself the same grade. I do not think I framed my project. Since I haven’t finished, I also don’t have any self-reflection in it either. That said I will be sure to add that.
Planning Green by Anonymous
B – Acknowledges limitations to chosen interdisciplinary approach, but without much reflection.
This paper did a much better job in framing the issue. I found two sections that clearly did that. “This paper will not go into specifics in the disciplines of economics, marketing, statistics, and sociology, but will get more detailed with engineering and design with more information on the materials used in the planning process.” (page 4) and later in the paper “This paper does not include an assessment of these environmentally friendly building techniques, but rather it is a descriptive presentation about this topic.” This clearly set some limitations to the overall scope of the paper and showed some level of self-awareness by the author.
I did not find any self-reflections which is why I assigned a B and not an A for critical awareness.
I think I posted my assessment in the wrong place so I'm re-posting, sorry for the duplication.
ReplyDeleteCONTRACT MANAGEMENT IN IRAK:
Identifies and evaluates relevant and reliable research
Criteria: Competent
I identified three disciplines in this project: contract management, law and public policy. I think that the project can be considered competent overall with some areas under development, since there are not enough scholarly sources for all disciplines. The author quotes the Journal of Contract Management, Government Contracting and Contract Management which I believe to be scholarly journals, but I did not find enough references to legal sources, other than Jrank.org, an online database of legal cases. However I believe that the discipline of Public Policy is properly represented in the proposal, with relevant descriptions of acts and laws enacted by the government and audit reports issued by government commissions which are clearly justified for the topic and can be relied upon to draw conclusions. I find that there may be too much reliance on media reports (BBC, CBS News, Business Week) that may be biased or inaccurate but their use maybe justified to provide the average reader with a general context of the problem.
Demonstrates disciplinary grounding
Criteria: Competent
I think that the author gives good examples and proper explanations. I did not get that impression from the introduction (I think the introduction is the most difficult part of the project so I totally relate here!) but as I kept reading the paper became more robust, especially in the analysis section, with very accurate descriptions of contract mismanagement from scholarly journals and other appropriate sources. I also think that most of the author’s claims were supported with evidence.
Wartime Contracting: Contract Management in Iraq by Bloom
ReplyDelete[Demonstrates disciplinary grounding]
Assessment: Developing (C)
My assessment of Bloom’s paper in the area of disciplinary grounding is that she fell into the “Developing” category. I base this assessment most specifically on the areas of our rubric which describe “extreme overreliance on one disciplinary literature over another,” and “many claims are not supported with evidence.”
I saw very little in Ms. Bloom’s paper that related to law. Granted, government contracting somewhat spans the gap between public policy and law on its own, but many of the topics she seemed to talk about could be or were covered by the public policy aspect, especially since law is part of the public policy doctrine. I couldn’t exactly tell where the law – specifically law that was not enmeshed in public policy – came in to being. Because of this lack, this paper seemed almost wholly geared towards public policy.
Also, there were many stated facts and pieces of data that had no link to where it was pulled from. Many of her claims were simply pulled from a source, but there was no evidence to substantiate what her unnamed source claimed. Because of that, no evidentiary trail could be made to substantiate the claims of her sources – named or unnamed. This is not to say that I don’t believe our government wastes money horribly and that wars are a black pit of fiscal hell, but this paper needed much more than just a simple claim here or there. Laying an evidentiary background to support these claims would have given her paper a lot more weight.
The Boix Mansilla article that we read defines work that demonstrates disciplinary grounding as exhibiting “disciplinary theories, findings, examples, methods, validation criteria, genres, and forms of communication.” I felt this paper was lacking many of these attributes of a properly grounded paper as defined by Boix Mansilla and by our grading rubric.
Planning Green
[Demonstrates disciplinary grounding]
Assessment: Developing (C)
If I read this paper correctly, this author attributes SEVEN different disciplines for his project! Though noble in his endeavor, it makes this paper rather impossible to ground properly. Most of his citations came from Globalgreen.org, which alone shows that the paper is skewed towards one discipline and one resource for most of his data. Based on our grading rubric, that would put this paper most definitely in the area of “extreme overreliance on one disciplinary literature over another.”
Additionally, many of his disciplines are not properly addressed in his paper. If he simply meant that the topic of Hurricane Katrina can run the gamut of all these disciplines, he’d be right – but his words were that “the main disciplines that are involved in this research project include…” and he goes on to list all of them. As a reader, that tells me that these disciplines will be addressed and grounded in the literature. With the possible exception of the disciplines of “photography” and “engineering and design” – which I assume covered the aspect of green building – none of the others were addressed so far as I could tell.
Though his facts are more grounded than the “Wartime Contracting” paper, many of his evidentiary data are without citation with which to verify his facts. I find that he falls into the category of “many claims are not supported with evidence.” Additionally, much of what was cited were personal conversations. Though not to be discarded as irrelevant, more cited information from scholarly journals may have given this paper more grounding.
For this reason, I would say that this paper falls into the realm of “Developing.”
This is my assessment on the paper titled PLANNING GREEN
ReplyDeleteIdentifies and evaluates relevant and reliable research
Criteria: Competent
I think the author identified appropriate research on green building techniques and obtained relevant information from scholarly journals on engineering and social research, and books on urban planning. However I don’t know enough to evaluate the technical data described in the methodology section about the photographs, equipment and shooting.
Demonstrates disciplinary grounding
Criteria: Developing.
I find it difficult to evaluate the disciplinary grounding of a creative project that covers seven disciplines (geography, economics, engineering, marketing, statistics, sociology and photography). For example, I don’t see the need to include photography in the project since it does not add any value in the sense described by Boix Mansilla (produce a cognitive advancement by explaining a phenomenon, solving a problem or creating a product). Based on the rubric we were given to evaluate this paper, I think there is overreliance on one discipline, photography, compared over the others mentioned by the author. However, the author’s overall claim about the need to build environmentally sustainable communities is well supported with evidence.
As I read these sample papers, I had my paper in back of my mind and compared whether the sample papers integrate relevant research in the same way I am going do for my paper. As much as I try my best to balance my disciplines using scholarly sources from each discipline, I realize how difficult it is to achieve it. Since I struggle to find relevant scholarly sources from three disciplinary areas, I admire the two authors to name four or even more disciplines. I think both papers are interesting and keep an audience engaged; however, in terms of the criterion “identifies and evaluates relevant and reliable research”……??? Before I read, I expected that one of them would be “exemplary” and other would be “developing”, but...
ReplyDeleteWartime Contracting: I am not sure if I see much scholarly literature from the disciplines of law and public policy. On the other hand, since I have very limited knowledge in these disciplines, I cannot precisely judge which literature matches with which discipline. But, because many sources seem to relate more to contract management (and maybe to government), it seems that the paper needs to develop further by including more research works from the missing areas. I would say “competent” for this one concerning this particular criterion.
Green Planning: I am kind of surprised that we are actually allowed to have so many disciplines integrate for 490 research project. This author claims geography, economics, engineering and design, marketing, statistics, sociology, and photography; however, I wonder if any of the scholarly literature from these disciplines is evident. For example, can we designate photography as one of the disciplines if we use adobe photoshop and repeat lengthy descriptions of lens and camera used for the project? Sociology is also weak because there is only one source that might relate to this discipline. Global Green USA and US green building counsel websites that are frequently cited in the paper do not seem scholarly. So, I would also say “competent”, or near “developing”, for this one because I think there should be more scholarly research from each discipline in the paper.
Bloom, Evidence of Interdisciplinarity: Developing
ReplyDeleteExtreme overreliance on one disciplinary literature over another.
Bloom states in her introduction that she will “use the legal discipline to examine laws in reference to contract management in Iraq.” Unfortunately, there is no discussion of the laws used to manage contracts. Her non-newspaper sources are almost solely public policy and government sources. One could argue that the policy changes enacted by the government were based on the laws, but she didn’t argue that, or make reference to any existing or newly-passed laws. Her recommendations, too, were only in the public-policy realm. I was left wondering if we had laws regarding wartime contracting and, if so, if they were followed.
Relies too much on quotations to communicate complex disciplinary ideas.
Bloom has a few paragraphs that are made up entirely of quotations. While those quotes do explain the concept she is discussing, the over-reliance on quotations is both distracting and unnecessary. Throughout the paper, concepts that could easily be summarized by Bloom herself are explained with quotations. And the lack of end quotes is very confusing!
Many claims are not supported by evidence.
I have to say that I was off-put immediately by Bloom’s sweeping generalizations about government and business in her introduction. Where is the evidence that the government can take on more risk than a private entity? Or that the government practices in a very visible atmosphere? As the paper went on, it seemed as though she was basing many of her arguments on only one source. Additionally, the use of newspaper articles as evidence was insufficient. A listing of a journalist’s top ten war profiteers could be a starting point for research, but shouldn’t be a source unto itself.
Planning Green, Evidence of Interdisciplinarity: Developing
Disciplines used are not connected to concentration.
The disciplines of this paper were hard to identify. Were they limited to geography, photography and film and video studies? Did they also include geography, economics, engineering and design, marketing, statistics, sociology, and photography? No matter what they were, there was a lack of tying together a LEED certification – a main part of the paper – with any of these disciplines. The geography of New Orleans was not discussed. While there were glancing references to sociology with the discussion of dying communities, no in-depth study was done on the sociological makeup of New Orleans. The one discipline clearly used was photography. I was frustrated throughout reading the paper because it was well done. But interdisciplinarity is the key component of our program, and it was not clearly discussed.
Disciplines are not stated explicitly.
See above. What were the disciplines? How was research in each of them applied? The main source used was Global Green USA. How could their mission tie into two disciplines?
Wartime - Contracting
ReplyDeleteI am rating this paper as “competent” on the demonstration of critical awareness. Throughout it was easy to read, the sentence structure was clear and the research that went into this projects was intensive. An important component, as described below, in my opinion is missing.
Bloom describes well the existing problems the US government faces with theft and fraud by private contractors. She does describe well her goal, sometimes redundantly so, about the elimination of existing problems. She explains the meaning of a contract, that it is a legal document and how the legal aspect of it is intertwined with contract management and Public Policy. Bloom obtained reports from several agencies and commissions containing data that allegedly proved that contracts had been mismanaged. Real life examples of fraud by specific companies are compelling. I am personally always on the look-out for those.
Critical thinking is demonstrated when trying to find out what went right in regards to contract management and focus and learn from it. Based on this it is demonstrated how the curbing of mismanagement was done and the students' own recommendations follow. I do wonder though how true these results are. What do they measure up against? Apparently the government worked diligently to solve the problems – who has the real answers on how this was achieved? Who can we trust? It sounds like the report one wants to hear – to make one feel better about the world around us. Tell me about the people who question those reports and defend their comments.
Planning Green
Beginning in the introduction I am at a loss when the disciplines are discussed. I need to reread this to understand that “the main ones are geography, engineering, design, marketing, statistics, sociology and photography”. Then the author says that she will not emphasize on several of these. Another sentence states that geography, photography, film and video studies are the disciplines.
The sentence structure is sometimes very convoluted. It is difficult to follow what the author is trying to convey. I start to doubt her own ability to understand what she is trying to say and to solve. The ability to think clearly and critically, in my opinion, can only be achieved if my sentences are well thought through and easily understood. These sentences must serve as the foundation for something that is overall critically sound.
The sentences in the introduction are long and incorporate information about sociological aspects about families that are never addressed again in the paper. I was waiting to hear how Green Design can impact or improve the lives of families, especially in inner cities. How do we take advantage of Green Design based on the geography, climate, etc.? This could have been an extremely interesting endeavor. The author essentially only talks about how Green Design is achieved and that she took pictures of the different sites while in New Orleans. I don't see much that was tied together with an interdisciplinary approach.
Helga writes...
ReplyDeleteTo follow is my assessment for Wartime Contracting for the criteria of appropriate use of citation and style for the discipline. I wish to acknowledge that I have concerns in this area in my own writing and feel there is always room for improvement.
That being said, I feel this paper needs further development. There were numerous errors in citing sources, with inconsistent use of page numbers, incomplete author identifications, sources cited but not listed in the bibliography and sources in the bibliography that were not cited in the paper. The same agency was inconsistently referenced and it was difficult to identify which document was being cited from an agency that had multiple sources.
Due the the many errors or inconsistencies, I would suggest further development and give this paper a C.
Review of Sample Projects by Lisa B.
ReplyDeleteCriteria: Project question draws on at least two disciplines
Wartime Contracting by Melissa Bloom
Title: Wartime Contracting Contract Management in Iraq
I clearly identified two disciplines in this projects question - contract management and public policy and after reading the paper you see that law comes into play when review the government policies required to implement the contracts and with the example of the “Black Water” contracts provided. Ms. Bloom also talks about the multiple policies established in the last six years and the new federal regulations recently implemented. I would assign this paper as competent in that disciplines used in project are clearly stated.
Title: Planning Green by Anonymous
This paper states that “this research will take a closer look at historic urban planning methods compared to current green building projects, using New Orleans as a case study.” I think that this states to the reader that engineering and architecture will both be look at using today’s “green” methods. I’m not sure that the “multimedia” using photography, film and video are brought to light in the project question but is later discussed as a tool for providing visual aids to the reader. Does this meet the requirement of have two disciplines in the project question – Yes, I would assign this paper also as competent in that disciplines used in project are clearly stated.
Wartime Contracting
ReplyDeleteProject incorporates and represents student’s own perspective; demonstrates synthesis and critical analysis of the research materials: Competent/B.
Project clearly incorporates and represents student’s own perspective (contracts being mismanaged in Iraq). Research is reported and interpreted to support student’s perspective; however, I think the research materials could have been analyzed and synthesized more in depth. A view of what was done right in Iraq was presented but could have been analyzed and elaborated on more in light of opposition. I think that the selected disciplines were integrated, grounded, and appropriate for this project in efforts to draw upon theories, findings, examples, and a conclusion. The student demonstrates critical awareness by reflecting upon the government’s need for contractor services despite the costly and wrongful doings that occurred in the past by both parties, and that further research is needed to improve wartime contracting.
Planning Green
Project incorporates and represents student’s own perspective; demonstrates synthesis and critical analysis of the research materials: Competent/B.
Project incorporates and represents student’s own perspective of developing communities with green planning techniques. The student’s research was reported and the analysis of when urban redevelopment occurs was sufficiently communicated. Although it is apparent that the student used the disciplines of photography, engineering, and geography to create this project, the limitations of the integration were not so much reflected upon. However, the genre (creative project) of this particular piece of work may have accounted for the fewer aspects of critical awareness.
Iraq Paper
ReplyDeleteI would give this a C+ or developing in the Project incorporates and represents students own perspective; demonstrates synthesis and critical analysis of the research materials. I thought that the author was comparing two different things reconstruction vs. private security. I also thought that in the section where the author discusses the contracts that some background information would have been useful, outside of a 50 mile radius a reader might not have any idea what the author was talking about. Finally in conclusions in recommendations sections I felt that some boots on the ground knowledge that was missing. As someone that has experience with contracting in Iraq I might have been a little hard but I felt that this was a little book reportish and there not really meeting “incorporates and represents students own perspective; demonstrates synthesis and critical analysis of the research materials” section of the criteria.
Green Paper-
I would give this a B or competent in the Project incorporates and represents students own perspective; demonstrates synthesis and critical analysis of the research materials. I liked how the author gave a background of the city, which to me added context and helped me understand why the interdisciplinary party was necessary.
Shareen
ReplyDeleteReview of sample projects
Wartime Contracting
Project question draws on at least two disciplines: B Competent
There are various disciplines that Bloom uses in this proposal. They are Law, Public Policy, Government, and Contract Management. Although Government and Public policy may not fit into a discipline, Law and Contract Management fit well. In her proposal, she illustrates how these disciplines will be used and the purpose they serve. I believe that more could be said about the other two disciplines or components that were outlined in the paper.
Review of sample projects
Planning Green
Project question draws on at least two disciplines: B Competent
This author did a great job drawing on the many disciplines described in this paper. According to the Boix Mansilla article, the author added value. If I had to grade this paper using the rubric, I would also give it a B. This author combined several disciplines and explained how they connected to each other.
Wartime Contraction:
ReplyDeleteExemplary- A : Clear, concise statement of research question, issue is described in a way that makes an interdisciplinary approach appropriate.
The researcher introduces the audience to the subject of contracting and how it works. Form reading the first part of introduction I could see what the researcher may investigate. Also I as a reader, could see the disciplines that may play a role in this project.
Planning Green: Exemplary- A
The purpose of this project was concise, clear research question and interdisciplinary approach was evident.
In the beginning of the paper, the author talks about new approach to construction and the benefit of one type over the other one. I could clearly see where the author was going and I could see the disciplines that would be involved in this project.
Grammar: According to the rubric found at the end of the syllabus I was reviewing each paper to see if it demonstrates “strong grammar, spelling, punctuation, and language.”
ReplyDeleteIronically the one area I struggle with at times is the area I have to comment on (okay I struggle all the time). :)
I find myself continently rewriting paragraphs and sentences to provide proper flow and grammar.
So here is my two-cents:
Wartime Contracting
Developing, C
Although Bloom developed very concise sentences they were not always clear which made it hard to read at parts. There were several sentences where the author could have combined into one to provide for coherency.
I understand this was not part of my assignment I wanted to comment on the way the author used transitioned between paragraphs. I felt the use of transitions within her writing were not effective as they did not assist in moving me from one paragraph to the other. This made me stop and reread the previous paragraph to understand the direction of the writing.
Again, I struggle with this myself which is why I rely on peer review and proofreading my paper numerous times.
Planning Green,
Exemplary, A
“Planning Green” was well written. The sentences were well formed and the author showed strength in writing by utilizing proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
I found the article easy to read and to understand. Although the sentences were not as concise as the previous paper, they were coherent. The use of transitions kept the flow of the paper and kept my interest throughout the reading.
-John L.
Clear Purpose Statement
ReplyDeleteWartime Contracting:
C
It was difficult to find a clear purpose in this proposal. The surrounding case appeared to be a record of malfeasance more than support for a better management process. That said, I did eventually understand how it all tied together. It was also difficult to find evidence that this project could be done by one person in four months. I think this is a creative project given the following statement:
“I will attempt to find a management process that could be implemented for future use.”
If the author doesn’t already have a management process in mind, it will be tough to do find/create on in a semester.
Planning Green
A
This was easy to understand and follow. The goal was clear with supporting arguments and material all clearly connected. I actually anticipated the project’s focus. Ample support from established sources and from personal experiences was used throughout.
Gregg M
Project is Well Written
ReplyDeleteWartime Contracting - Developing - C
The introduction did not seem to support or describe the major pit of the paper. It focused mainly on the differences between the government and business and did not focus on the problem discussed later of contract management. Another major problem was that one of the major research questions was answered itself in the literature review section.
Planning Green - Competent - B
Does not seem to discuss a real problem it is more of a case study regarding green building initiatives. The length does not seem appropriate because much of the information is related to the equipment used to take photos instead of discussing or focusing on a particular issue or problem. This is a hard topic to obtain good sources on since green building initiatives are so new and have not been around enough to be fully analyzed and compared to traditional development methods.