Department of History - Senior I.S. Evaluation

Research Topic & Historical Question (Historical Thinking, Historical Knowledge, & Critical Reasoning)
3:  The student formulates an appropriate and interesting historical question.  The approach demonstrates innovation and a complex consideration of the past. 
2:  The student formulates an appropriate and interesting historical question.  The approach demonstrates a complex consideration of the past.
1:  The student defines their research topic but struggles to articulate an appropriate historical question.

Argument (Historical Thinking, Critical Reasoning, & Clear Communication)
3:  The student presents a clear and compelling argument throughout the thesis.
2:  The student presents a clear argument throughout the thesis.
1:  The student’s argument is poorly defined or overly broad.

Analysis of Primary Sources (Historical Thinking & Critical Reasoning)
3:  The student employs appropriate primary sources and skillfully and thoughtfully employs this evidence to support their historical interpretation. 
2:  The student employs appropriate primary sources to support their historical question, but his/her analysis of the sources may demonstrate some lapses in historical methodology.
1:  The student employs appropriate primary sources, but does not move beyond summary or does not skillfully and thoroughly employ this evidence to support their historical question. 

Historiography (Historical Thinking and Critical Reasoning)
3:  The student provides a comprehensive and insightful critique of the relevant historical literature and a compelling articulation of how the student’s approach contributes to the scholarly discussion.
2:  The student provides a comprehensive review of the relevant historical literature and presents a clear understanding of how the student’s approach contributes to the scholarly discussion.
1:  The student provides a partial summary of the relevant historical literature and starts to articulate its relationship to the student’s research.

Ethical Use of Information (Historical Thinking & Critical Reasoning Skills)
3:  All sources of information, interpretation, and direct quotations are correctly credited and cited.  Explicit differentiation student’s ideas and those drawn from other reputable sources. 
2:  All sources of information, interpretation, and direct quotations are clearly credited. Explicit differentiation student’s ideas and those drawn from other reputable sources, but contains minor formatting errors.
1:  Explicit differentiation student’s ideas and those drawn from other reputable sources, but contains persistent formatting errors.

Writing (Clear Communication)
3:  The student communicates clearly and with a sense of style.  Excellent grammar, spelling, and sentence structure.
2:  The student communicates clearly and demonstrates a strong command of writing mechanics.  
1:  The student communicates their ideas fairly clearly but could have fewer spelling or grammatical errors or better organization.

Format (Clear Communication)
3:  The I.S.’s length (60-100 pages excluding acknowledgement, figures, appendixes, and bibliography) and presentation wholly conform to the standards outlined in the Department of History I.S. Handbook. 
2:  The I.S.’s length is appropriate but the presentation includes minor deviations from the standards outlined in the Department of History I.S. Handbook.
1:  The I.S.’s length and/or presentation is barely appropriate, suggesting insufficient attention to clear communication.

Introduction (Historical Thinking, Historical Knowledge, Critical Reasoning, & Clear Communication)
3:  The student’s introduction presents an insightful synopsis of his/her topic, the historiography, the approach, and the argument. 
2:  The student’s introduction presents a clear statement of the topic, the historiography, the approach, and the argument.
1:  The student provides basic information about his/her topic, the historiography, approach, and his/her argument. 

Conclusion (Historical Thinking, Historical Knowledge, Critical Reasoning, & Clear Communication)
3:  The student presents an insightful synthesis of his/her historical research and provides perceptive commentary on the implications of his/her I.S.
2:  The student presents a clear and compelling summation of his/her historical research and provides observant commentary on the implications of his/her I.S.
1:  The student provides some commentary on the substance and implications of his/her I.S.

Annotated Bibliography (Historical Thinking, Critical Reasoning, & Clear Communication)
3:  The student has a comprehensive bibliography, which includes the most important works on the topic, with clear annotations.  The annotations carefully and thoroughly evaluate each source’s argument, use of evidence, rhetorical strategies, and relationship to other works considered. 
2:  The student has an extensive bibliography, which includes the most important works on the topic, with clear annotations.  Many annotations carefully and thoroughly evaluate each source’s argument, use of evidence, rhetorical strategies, and relationship to other works considered, but others are less thorough. 
1:  The student presents a partial bibliography.  The annotations provide basic information with little scholarly analysis.