Choose A City
Guide to Detailed Scoring
Rubrics and Student Work Samples
Table of Contents
Items and Rubrics
1...... p. 2
Rubric A (Information)...... p. 4
Rubric B (URL)...... p. 6
2...... p. 7
Rubric A (Research Problem)...... p. 7
Rubric B (Question Format)...... p. 8
3...... p. 9
Rubric (Search Phrase)...... p. 9
4...... p.10
Rubric (Critique)...... p.10
5...... p.12
Rubric A (Conclusion and Support)...... p.12
Rubric B (Organization)...... p.14
Rubric C (Mechanics)...... p.15
Rubric D (Graphics)...... p.18
Rubric E (Productivity Tool) ...... p.18
INTRODUCTION
A group of foreign high school exchange students are planning to come to the U.S. for the summer. They can live either in Knoxville, Tennessee or Fort Collins, Colorado, but do not have enough information about the two cities to decide which would be better. They want you to gather information on the Web about the two cities and make a recommendation. They are mainly interested in which city would be the most fun and which has the best public transportation (which they will need because they will not have cars).
You will gather and analyze information about the two cities. Then, you will write the students a letter or create a presentation identifying which of the two you recommend, and why.
Each of the cities has a Web site with links to information about the city's attractions, services, and other characteristics. You can use those sites, but you do not have to limit yourself to them.
PART I: GATHER INFORMATION
ITEM 1
Question.
Your first task is to gather and summarize information from the Web about the two cities the exchange students are considering -- Knoxville and Fort Collins.
- You will start your research by clicking the two links below, which will take you to the home pages of the official city Web sites. From there, you can go wherever you want.
- In the tables below, you will write about the information you find and put the URLs of the Web pages (such as that take you to the information. (The URL, which means "universal resource locator," is like an address).
Click here to go to Knoxville's homepage
Click here to go to Fort Collins' homepage
FORT COLLINS
1a: Look for two Web pages with information about the kinds of activities that you can do for fun in Fort Collins. In the space below, briefly summarize what you find and give at least one example from each of the two Web pages (such as how many parks there are, or what exhibits you can see at the museum).
1b: Write down the URL of a Web page you used for your summary:
1c: Write down the URL of another Web page you used for your summary: / 1d: Look for two Web pages with information about the public transportation system in Fort Collins. In the space below, briefly summarize the kinds of public transportation available. Also, give at least one detail about the public transportation from each of the two Web pages (such as the cost of riding the bus, how many bus routes there are, etc.).
1e: Write down the URL of a Web page you used for your summary:
1f: Write down the URL of another Web page you used for your summary:
KNOXVILLE
OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUN / PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION1g: Look for two Web pages with information about the kinds of activities that you can do for fun in Knoxville. In the space below, briefly summarize what you find and give at least one example from each of the two Web pages (such as how many parks there are, or what exhibits you can see at the museum).
1h: Write down the URL of a Web page you used for your summary:
1i: Write down the URL of another Web page you used for your summary: / 1j: Look for two Web pages with information about the public transportation system in Knoxville. In the space below, briefly summarize the kinds of public transportation available. Also, give at least one detail about the public transportation from each of the two Web pages (such as the cost of riding the bus, how many bus routes there are, etc.).
1k: Write down the URL of a Web page you used for your summary:
1l: Write down the URL of another Web page you used for your summary:
Rubric A for Item 1 (answers a, d, g, and j)
Outcome Area: Technology Use, Reasoning with Information
Proficiency: Finding relevant Web-based information by navigating complex Web directories and/or using search tools
Item format: Constructed, divergent response
Scoring criteria: Information provided...
a.is relevant to the task (e.g., is youth-oriented and about public transportation or recreational opportunities
b.is accurate (e.g., taken accurately from the Web pages)
c.contains, from each of two Web pages, at least one general piece of information (e.g., the fact that the city has parks or a bus system) and one specific piece of information (e.g., mentioning specific names or characteristics of the park or bus system)
Scale:
4.all criteria met
3.all criteria met, but with minor flaws
2. some criteria met, may be some minor flaws as well
1.major errors or omissions
M. answer is missing
Adequate performance: 3 and above
Note: Even though the students are asked to summarize what they learn, do not score them on their proficiency at composing a well-communicated summary. This is as an information-gathering exercise, not a communication exercise. Their proficiencies at written communication are assessed in Item 5.
Illustrative Examples of Student Work
Score of 4 on recreational opportunities:
Explanation of score: There are two general ideas (parks, sports facilities) and several specifics (specific numbers of facilities, plus summer festivals at the Great Smokey Mountains National Park)
Score of 4 on public transportation:
Explanation of score: There are two big ideas (that Knoxville has buses and trolleys) and some details (25 routes, bus schedule, etc.)
Score of 3 on recreational opportunities
Explanation of score:
Sufficient general and specific ideas are provided, but the information about events in December is irrelevant because the exchange students will only be there in the summer.
Score of 3 on public transportation:
Explanation of score:
Sufficient numbers of general ideas (that the mayor tries to keep the city safe for bicyclists and pedestrians, and that there is a "program for people who cannot use the bus) and specific ideas (that there is a bus service called Transfort and that the other program involves dialing for a ride) are provided. There are two minor flaws however: 1)There is nothing in the premise of the task that indicates the exchange students are interested in services for the disabled, 2) the statement that "the transportation organization is larger then the roads and cars" is not useful because it is too vague.
Score of 2 on recreational opportunities
Explanation of score:
Only one recreational opportunity is addressed (football).
Score of 2 on public transportation:
Explanation of score:
Only general information is provided -- nothing specific.
Score of 1 on recreational opportunities:
Explanation of score:
Answer is clear but too general to be useful.
Score of 1 on public transportation:
Explanation of score:
The information is too vague and unclear to be useful.
Rubric B for Item 1 (answers b, c, e, f, h, i, k, l)
Outcome Area: Technology Use
Proficiency: Citing URL
Item format: Constructed, divergent response
Scoring criteria: Whether the URL works and goes to a relevant Web site
Scale:
3. URL works and goes to a Web page that contains at least some of the summarized information
2. URL works but does not go to a page that contains at least some of the summarized information
1. URL does not work, and may not be a URL at all
M. answer is missing
Adequate performance: 3 points
Illustrative Examples of Student Work
Score of 3:
.
Explanation of score:
The URL works and goes directly to a Web page of specific information about the three municipal golf courses in Fort Collins—details that are described in the student’s summary about recreational opportunities there.
Score of 3 again:
.
Explanation of score:
The URL works and goes to a series of Web pages that are about the Knoxville Area Transit system, including a page that introduces the topic and links to the various pages that provide the details described in the student’s summary
Score of 2:
Explanation of score:
The URL works but it goes to the Fort Collins home page, which does not contain any of the information the student summarized.
Score of 2 again:
Explanation of score:
The URL works but it goes to the Ask Jeeves search engine, which does not contain any of the information the student summarized.
Explanation of score:
The answer shows an error in citing the URL (e.g., a comma after the period that follows “www”),. The student may have been careless and the carelessness may or may not be a manifestation of misunderstanding about how URLs operate. However, it would be wrong to assume that carelessness was the cause of the error and that the student knows how to cite a URL. The scoring process is based on whether or not the answer shows unequivocal evidence of the targeted proficiency, which this answer clearly does not.
Score of 1:
Explanation of score:
The banner at the top of the home page for Knoxville is cited mistakenly as the URL.
ITEM 2
Question.
If you had the chance to do more research, what else would you want to know about the cities' public transportation systems or opportunities for fun that you don't already know and that might help the exchange students make up their minds. Write what you would like to know in the form of a question.
My question is: ______
Rubric A for Item 2
Outcome Area: Reasoning With Information
Proficiency: Formulating a research problem
Item format: Constructed, divergent response
Scoring criteria: On-topic and clear
Scale:
3: both criteria met
2: criteria partially met
1: off-topic and confusing
M. answer is missing
Adequate performance: 2 points and above
Illustrative Examples of Student Work
Score of 3:
Explanation of score:
The question is relevant because it is about pubic transportation, and it is clearly worded.
Score of 2:
Explanation of score:
Special events and a rent a bike program are relevant, but whether or not to have a history page on the Web site is not.
Score of 1:
Explanation of score:
The price of houses and the weather are not relevant.
Rubric B for Item 2
Outcome Area: Communication
Proficiency: Expressing a research problem in question format
Item format: Constructed, divergent response
Scoring criteria: How well the answer is phrased as a question
Scale:
3: phrased as a clearly-worded question
2: phrased as a question but not very clear
1: not phrased as a question
M. answer is missing
Adequate performance: 2 points and above
Illustrative Examples of Student Work
Score of 3:
How much does the bus fair co
Explanation of score:
This is a clearly-stated question.
Score of 2:
Explanation of score:
Though the answer is stated a question, the concept of “bigness” is not explained, hence it unclear if the student is thinking about the city’s population or geographical area.
Score of 1:
Explanation of score:
The information need is expressed as a declarative sentence, not as a question.
ITEM 3
Question.
Imagine you were going to use a Web search tool (such as Yahoo!, AskJeeves, Excite, and Lycos) to answer your question. These search tools require that you type into a text box what word or phrase you want to search on. In the space below, write what word or phrase you would search on to answer your question.
I would type in for my search: ______
Rubric for Item 3
Outcome Area: Technology Use
Proficiency: Formulating targeted phrase-based Web search query
Item format: Constructed, divergent response
Scoring criteria: Likely effectiveness of the search phrase for answering the question expressed in the student's answer to item 2 (e.g., "effectiveness" means that the query phrase will yield as large a set of relevant search results as is possible, provided there are Web sites that contain the sought-after information)
Scale:
3: on topic and focused -- not too general and not too specific
2: on topic but too general or too specific to be very effective
1: off topic or much too general or too specific
M. answer is missing
Adequate performance: 2 points and above
Illustrative Examples of Student Work
Score of 3:
How much does the bus fair co
Note: This query follows from the research question: "Are there any fun parks over in Fort Collins like Disneyland or Six Flags Marine World?"
Explanation of score:
The search phrase is on the topic of recreational opportunities in the vicinity of Fort Collins Colorado and is sufficiently focused to yield a large quantity of relevant search results.
Score of 2:
Note: This query follows from the research question: " Where are the beaches or if there weren't any in the place then the next closest one would be?"
Explanation of score:
The query is on-topic but without quotation marks around "Fort Collins," the search will yield results about other places with the words "Fort" or "Collins" in them (such as "Fort Lauderdale.")
Score of 1:
Note: This query follows from the research question: "Is the air in Fort Collins or Knoxville polluted?"
Explanation of score:
The answer suggests that the student does not understand what it means to carry out a word or phrase-based Web search.
Score of 1 (again)
Note: This query follows from the research question: " What is the most popular sport in this city?"
Explanation of score:
The query phrase is off-topic and too general. Neither city is identified.
ITEM 4
Question.
Go to either the Fort Collins Web site or the Knoxville Web site and find some text that sounds questionable to you. It may be questionable because it sounds biased, exaggerated, inaccurate, unreasonable, or unbelievable. Then, in the space below the links:
•Copy the sentence or sentences you find that contain the questionable text.
•Identify the words or phrases that sound questionable and explain why they seem so.
If all of the sentences on the Web pages sound completely true, explain why you are convinced of that.
Rubric for Item 4
Outcome Area: Reasoning With Information
Proficiency: Critically evaluating Web-based textual information
Item format: Constructed, divergent response
Scoring criteria: Whether the information found by the student lacks credibility, and whether s/he has been able to adequately explain what the problem is
Scale:
4: the student has found questionable text and has adequately explained why
3: the student has found questionable text and has tried to explain why, but the explanation has some minor flaws
2: the student has found questionable text but has not tried to explain why
1: states that he cannot find questionable text, or the text he finds appears to be factual and he has either not attempted to explain or his explanation has major flaws
M. answer is missing
Adequate performance: 3 and above
Illustrative Examples of Student Work
Score of 4:
Explanation of score:
A questionable piece of text (a Native American myth) has been found and an adequate explanation has been provided about what is questionable about it.
Score of 4 (again)
Explanation of score:
The student has found an exaggerated piece of text and has identified it as such.
Score of 3: (Student is quoting from a Web page about a museum in Fort Collins)
Explanation of score:
The student has found some figurative language that could be viewed as questionable from a literal perspective, and the student has attempted to explain why it is questionable. However, the explanation for why it is questionable is weak because it assumes erroneously that either Fort Collins has no pre-history or that the people of Fort Collins have nothing informative to say about prehistoric times.
Score of 2:
Explanation of score: Questionable text has been found, but there is no explanation of what is questionable about it.
Score of 1:
Explanation of score:
A fact is cited, not a piece of questionable information. There is no evidence that the student has looked at the information critically.
Score of 1:
Explanation of score:
Answer suggests that the student thinks all the information is fully believable, but no explanation is provided about why, hence there is no evidence that the student can critique information.
PART II: MAKE YOUR RECOMMENDATION
ITEM 5. Make your recommendation to the foreign exchange students, in either a letter or a presentation. In your letter or presentation, check that you include the following:
a)the city you recommend
b)at least two reasons why you recommend this city (Use information from the Web pages to support your reasons. You may gather new information, if you wish.)
c)an explanation of how the city you recommend is better than the other city