HST 112: Survey of American History
History 112 is a foundation course for the Miami Plan. Dr. Neumann helps students understand contexts by examining the many different institutions, beliefs, and life patterns of past human societies and to develop critical thinking skills so that they are prepared to reflect and act as citizens.

Students in her eight-week Saturday Select HST 112 were assigned to write a paper on Philip Caputo's A Rumor of War. Students in Dr. Neumann's other classes had already submitted reports on a different book. The papers indicated that some students were struggling with how to write an essay. The critical thinking skills of many of the students also

needed improvement. The earlier papers also indicated that students were not looking at the rubric that was distributed and that some were using Wiki as a source, even though Wiki is often inaccurate.

For her ACT project, Dr. Neumann designed a different style of instructional guide. She tried to craft something that the students would review. This guide included graphics as well as instructions on how to incorporate critical thinking into papers. She linked the guide to a rubric. The rubric helped standardize her grading and helped the students improve their writing. Both the writing guide and the rubric will apply to papers that the students write in subsequent courses, so there is portability. Students' grades were substantially higher than their previous papers and there were no fundamental writing problems with the papers.

In addition, Dr. Neumann's ACT project was accepted for publication. It is titled, "Writing Toolbox for History" in Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet, eds., It Works For Me: Shared Tips for Effective Teaching (Stillwater, OK:  New Forums Press, early 2009).

Assignment

Rubric