In Dr. Hetrick’s JRN 101 course, students participated in two month-long "watchdog" projects in which they were asked to read and critically assess several different news mediums. These observations and assessments then served as the basis for two critical writing projects, including a final paper. An assignment-specific critical thinking rubric was used to grade the final papers. Dr. Hetrick introduced the rubric to students during one-on-one meetings in which they discussed first drafts of their papers. Students then rewrote their papers using the rubric for guidance.

No student wrote an unsatisfactory first draft. In the final grading almost two-thirds of the papers were "substantially developed,” with the class average in the A range.

Such a high curve pointed to two main problems with the grading process:
• The percentage of the scoring based on the critical thinking rubric to the exclusion of other criteria was too high for this particular assignment.
• The criteria for "substantially developed" were not substantially developed; they need to be more rigorous.

Dr. Hetrick intends to revise the rubric and use it in additional courses. She also plans on sharing her ACT work and her more general rubric with her colleagues in journalism.

Assignments

Hetrick Assignment

Rubric

Hetrick Assignment Rubric

Hetrick General Rubric