More thoughts on the document assignments February 18, 2009
Posted by jdresner in doing history, grading, hist 102 (Spring 2009), homework.1 comment so far
the average score was a C-, roughly. I’ll put another sample at the bottom of this post.
I’m going to give some general comments here, and then go section by section. If you got an A or B, then you need to pay more attention to my comments on your paper than to this general statement. If you got a C, then a lot of this probably applies to you. If you got a D or F, then you need to take this very seriously: this is your blueprint to improve. Here is the original assignment, for reference.
Apology and comments February 4, 2009
Posted by jdresner in grading, hist 102 (Spring 2009).add a comment
First, the apology: the first round of document analysis assignments is taking me longer than I expected to get done. I’ll have them Friday, for sure, though, so you’ll get them back before you have to start the next one, on Columbus.
I’m noticing — and this is part of what’s taking me so long — some patterns, though. Here are some suggestions and thoughts that should get you started thinking about the next one:
- The “content” section isn’t just summary: you can (and should, if you can) discuss the tone and style of the piece, reliability, whether the author is being up front about goals and honest about the situation, etc.
- The “historical use” section isn’t just “what I learned from this document” though that can be a good starting place. It’s more about what bigger questions — and I can’t emphasize that enough: “questions” — can be asked which this document helps to answer.
I’ll add to this list as I notice more patterns, things that might have been unclear on the first round.
More comments:
- The Author section is boring, sometimes. But that doesn’t mean that you should copy, i.e. plagiarize, what’s in the document introduction. It can be used as “setup” for the context and content sections.
- The Context section, which is where you should be talking about the geographic and historical environment, will usually benefit from attention to the textbook in addition to the document introduction.
The average and median grades for the document assignments was a C.
Samples: Here are three samples of the document assignment, and one from the pop quiz (since you do have a test coming up next week, as well!). They aren’t ‘perfect’ but they are very good answers: complete, careful, thoughtful. Notice that the pop quiz answer on Martin Luther and the first document analysis are actually fairly short: you don’t have to be long-winded if you get right to the point. Note also that the other two document analysis answers are longer, in fact longer than average for what was handed in: to be complete, to cover the issues and get a lot done and done well, sometimes takes extra time, energy and space.
Test #8 Results December 12, 2008
Posted by jdresner in Uncategorized, administrative, grading, hist 102 (Fall 2008).add a comment
The high score was 28; actually, the highest scores were 29 and 27.5, but 28 is easier for the math. The median was right on the B/B+ border, and a substantial majority of people who took the test improved their overall test grade for the semester. The top three terms were from Chapter 29 — Cold War, genocide and Holocaust — as was the bottom term, European Union. The most popular term from chapter 30 was renewable energy, which tied chapter 29’s Great Depression for fourth place.
| Grade | Minimum | Distribution |
| A+ | 28 | |
| A | 26.5 | 20% |
| A- | 25 | |
| B+ | 23 | |
| B | 20 | 60% |
| B- | 18 | |
| C+ | 16 | |
| C | 13 | 20% |
| C- | 11 | |
| D+ | 19 | |
| D | 6 | |
| D- | 4 | |
| F | 0 |
Though a lot of people did choose the Holocaust and genocide, I was not terribly happy with the overall results: there was almost nobody who connected either term to the history of nationalism or racial thinking which we talked about fairly extensively; and the textbook seems to have confused some people on the distinction between genocide — the attempt to eliminate a particular people, of which the Holocaust is one example (and often the only one people cited) — and other atrocities.
Test #7 Results December 1, 2008
Posted by jdresner in Uncategorized, administrative, grading, hist 102 (Fall 2008).add a comment
The high score before extra credit was 30; actually, there was about a three or four-way tie at 30. Einstein and Hitler tied for the most popular terms; big bang theory and atomic bombs tied for second. Pragmatism and primitivism tied for last, completely unanswered by anyone. It seemed like there was a cultural divide at work: some people went heavy on political/military terms, while some went mostly for cultural/scientific terms.
| Grade | Minimum | Distribution |
| A+ | 30 | |
| A | 28 | 30% |
| A- | 27 | |
| B+ | 25 | |
| B | 21.5 | 40% |
| B- | 19.5 | |
| C+ | 17.5 | |
| C | 14 | 30% |
| C- | 12 | |
| D+ | 10 | |
| D | 6.5 | |
| D- | 4.5 | |
| F | 0 |
Test Six Report November 18, 2008
Posted by jdresner in grading, hist 102 (Fall 2008).add a comment
The high grade before extra credit was actually 30.5, but that was a bit of an outlier, so I left the high score at 30 for the purposes of everyone’s grade. The top picks were machine guns, Opium Wars, Social Darwinism and anti-semitism; the most neglected terms were Secularism, Chulalongkorn and Maori Wars. The most popular answer to the extra credit question about 19 century politics was “intensifying nationalism”; the least popular was “racially tinged imperialism.”
| Grade | Minimum | Distribution |
| A+ | 30 | |
| A | 28 | 15% |
| A- | 27 | |
| B+ | 25 | |
| B | 21.5 | 50% |
| B- | 19.5 | |
| C+ | 17.5 | |
| C | 14 | 30% |
| C- | 12 | |
| D+ | 10 | |
| D | 6.5 | 5% |
| D- | 4.5 | |
| F | 0 |
Test #5 Results November 7, 2008
Posted by jdresner in grading, hist 102 (Fall 2008).add a comment
The high grade was actually 31, but that was a bit of an outlier, so I set the high score at 30 for the purposes of everyone’s grade. The top picks were fossil fuels, urbanization, railroads and canned foods; the least popular choices were Haiti, Paternalism and Samuel Smiles.
| Grade | Minimum | Distribution |
| A+ | 30 | |
| A | 28.5 | 20% |
| A- | 27 | |
| B+ | 24.5 | |
| B | 22 | 45% |
| B- | 19.5 | |
| C+ | 17 | |
| C | 14.5 | 35% |
| C- | 12 | |
| D+ | 9.5 | |
| D | 7 | 0% |
| D- | 4.5 | |
| F | 0 |
Essay Revision Assignment due Nov. 10th November 3, 2008
Posted by jdresner in Schedule Change, doing history, grading, hist 102 (Fall 2008), homework.add a comment
You have the opportunity, if you chose to take it, to revise one of the essays you’ve written and had graded this semester. The requirements are simple:
- You must hand in the original essay, with my grading sheet attached, along with the revised essay.
- It is due Monday, November 10th. (I will return the latest essays Wednesday, the 5th, so you’ll have some time, if you chose that one).
- The revised essay grade will replace the original essay grade. The lowest essay grade will still be dropped at the end of the semester.
- The revised essay will be graded as a stand-alone essay, not in relation to the original essay.
Here are some suggestions:
- Revision is not copyediting: fixing grammar and punctuation won’t change your grade, unless they were horrendous and I noted it as a factor in the grade.
- Revision should be substantial, representing a new understanding of the question and material: thus, the name, “re-vision.” Just because I’m not grading the degree of revision doesn’t mean that I’m not looking at the degree of revision: if the essay is only slightly revised, the grade will only move slightly, if at all.
- Focus on my comments regarding the thesis and argument first, then add evidence as necessary to support that argument.
If you’re having trouble figuring out what my comments mean, ask me. If you need a reminder about the standards by which I grade, you can find them here. If you need to look over the assignment parameters again, you can find them here and here.
Test #4 Report October 29, 2008
Posted by jdresner in grading, hist 102 (Fall 2008).add a comment
The most popular answer, by a wide margin, on the extra credit was the French Revolution. Nobody picked the English Revolution. The best answer, I think, was the Seven Years’ War, but only one person pointed out that both the French and American Revolutions came out of it. Anyway, anyone who made an attempt got credit.
The top terms, with more than 2/3rds of you taking a stab at them, were: French Revolution, American Revolution, Seven Years’ War and, oddly, Romanticism. The least popular terms included overseas Chinese, Qianlong, Robert Clive and Edmund Burke, but the real loser was Leibniz — only two people even tried.
The high score (before extra credit) this time was 27.5, but I rounded down to 27, so the grade scale remains unchanged from last time. So does the distribution, more or less. The median was again on the B/B- borderline.
| Grade | Minimum | Distribution |
| A+ | 27 | |
| A | 25.3 | 22% |
| A- | 24.3 | |
| B+ | 22.3 | |
| B | 19.6 | 36% |
| B- | 17.6 | |
| C+ | 15.6 | |
| C | 12.9 | 30% |
| C- | 10.9 | |
| D+ | 8.9 | |
| D | 6.2 | 12% |
| D- | 4.2 | |
| F | 0 |
Test 3 Report October 13, 2008
Posted by jdresner in grading, hist 102 (Fall 2008).add a comment
There wasn’t as overwhelming a favorite this time: Opium had the strongest showing, picked by almost 3/4ths of you. It was followed closely by urbanization, monocultures and industrialization. If you’re keeping score, you’ll note that all of those were terms from Chapter 20 which, in spite of offering fewer choices, was the clear favorite. The most popular terms from Chapter 19, just around the 50% level, were Queen Nzinga and Peter the Great. The least popular terms were David Ricardo, Manchus and mestizos, Treaty of Westphalia and James Cook.
The high score this time was 27, the lowest of the semester, so far. The good news is that the ratio of A-level grades was clearly up as a result; the ratio of D-level grades was also up, though. The median was on the B/B- borderline.
| Grade | Minimum | Distribution |
| A+ | 27 | |
| A | 25.3 | 25% |
| A- | 24.3 | |
| B+ | 22.3 | |
| B | 19.6 | 35% |
| B- | 17.6 | |
| C+ | 15.6 | |
| C | 12.9 | 30% |
| C- | 10.9 | |
| D+ | 8.9 | |
| D | 6.2 | 15% |
| D- | 4.2 | |
| F | 0 |
Here are some good answers, as a reminder of what I’m looking for:
(more…)
Test 2 Results October 3, 2008
Posted by jdresner in grading, hist 102 (Fall 2008), study terms.add a comment
The high score without extra credit was 30. This makes the calculations of lower grades pretty easy: nice round numbers.
| Grade | Minimum | Distribution |
| A+ | 30 | |
| A | 28.5 | 15% |
| A- | 27 | |
| B+ | 24.5 | |
| B | 22 | 45% |
| B- | 19.5 | |
| C+ | 17 | |
| C | 14.5 | 35% |
| C- | 12 | |
| D+ | 9.5 | |
| D | 7 | 5% |
| D- | 4.5 | |
| F | 0 |
The most popular terms were:
- Columbian Exchange
- maize
- smallpox & Martin Luther
- sugar
- weeds
The least popular terms were Manchu, Siberia and Rene Descartes.
