University of Michigan Improving Equity by Improving the Grading System Essay
Question Description
Assignment Purpose
Essay 2 gives you an opportunity to write for action by entering the ongoing conversation about Core Education at the University of Oregon.
“Core Education” is what UO calls the set of required courses that all UO students must complete to graduate. Its also call gen ed or general education.
Big Questions:
- What should the purpose of a liberal arts education at the UO be in 2020?
- Can Core Education requirements be changed or enhanced to address the thing you are most passionate about?
- Can we work together to make the methods of inquiry at UO more accessible and equitable?
Choosing A Topic
You can use a question you wrote in Drafting Lab 5 or you can write on a different topic. Your goal is to propose or make the UO Core Education Council aware of something that is important to you that you believe should be part of all UO students’ education. Write on an area of your choosing. You are constrained by your audience.
I really, really encourage you to use your personal experience from Drafting Lab 5 in some way in your letter!
Writing Tasks
Develop A Full Draft For Peer Review
Draft a 1,000 to 1,200 letter to the Core Education Council addressing a question at issue related to the academic experience of all undergraduate students at the University of Oregon. Your “essay” will take the form of an academic letter. Use President Michael Schill’s letters to the UO Campus community as models. You can find them on the president’s web page: https://president.uoregon.edu/. Here’s a recent one about Reforms To The UO Police Department.
Essay Requirements
Your essay should:
- demonstrate your ability to use the style conventions of an academic letter
- establish your ethos, relationship to the topic, and reason for writing
- argue a logical claim + reason (enthymeme!) for change to UO Core Education
- organize sub-reasons and support of your claim in an academic letter
- respectfully address an audience outside of our classroom (UO Core Education Council)
- examine and respectfully represent competing interests of multiple stakeholders
Complete A Writer’s Note
Briefly answer the following questions:
- Describe in detail the criteria for evaluation that you believe your draft best meets. Explain why.
- Describe in detail the criteria for evaluation you need the most help with. Explain why.
- What is your gut instinct about your priority for revision? Remember, revision isn’t just about improving your essay but deepening your own understanding of your topic.
Criteria for Evaluation
To earn a complete, your draft must demonstrate a minimum attempt (attempted but needs work) of at least 4 of the 6 criteria listed in the rubric.
Rubric
First Draft Essay 2
| Criteria | Ratings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeContains a narrowly focused claim. The subject should be more specific than “liberal education.” I should be able to identify your main claim and main supporting reason. |
|
||||
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeFollows the conventions of a campus letter. Date, greeting, introduction of writer (see criteria related to ethos), reason for writing/topic, reasoning, closing remarks, signature. |
|
||||
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeDemonstrates an understanding of the concept of a “liberal arts education,” the core education requirements at UO, and the ideas in the articles we read as a class in WK6-WK8. |
|
||||
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeAcknowledges at least one stakeholder with a competing interest and addresses their concerns. Think of this as a counterargument. |
|
||||
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeCreates ethos: names your identity, shows your commitment to being responsible, bridges gaps between you (a student) and the Core Education Council (professors), locates your perspective. |
|
||||
|
This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeWriter’s note contains the required information. |
|
||||
"Place your order now for a similar assignment and have exceptional work written by our team of experts, guaranteeing you "A" results."
