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Scholarship in Practice

This rubric is designed as a tool to assess activities aimed at student gains in the follow learning outcome(s) for the Scholarship in Practice General Education Category:

At the completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Select and critically evaluate areas of scholarship relevant to the practice of the discipline.
  • Apply relevant methods and frameworks to the planning, modeling, and/or preparing necessary to produce a project or participate in the practice in a manner that is authentic to the discipline.
  • Critique, revise and refine a project, or the practice of the discipline, according the authentic manner of the discipline
  • Effectively communicate the application of scholarship through ancillary material (written, oral, and/or visual)

Criteria and performance descriptions for the review of student work

Selecting and evaluating 

Relevant areas of scholarship are selected and critically evaluated by the student

Advanced Proficient Beginning Unacceptable

Engages in in-depth research and insightful evaluation to determine key resources. Explores a broad range of potential resources including non- standard and cross-disciplinary resources.

Critically evaluates credibility, multiple view points, common assumptions, complexities and ambiguities.

Engages in in-depth research.

Considers credibility, multiple viewpoints, common assumptions, complexities and ambiguities.

Engages in limited research that results in a superficial selection of resources.

Considers credibility of resources but illumination of complexities and ambiguities is limited.

No exploration of resources or selection of irrelevant resources.

Does not consider credibility or multiple viewpoints common assumptions, complexities or ambiguities.

Relevant methods and frameworks are applied to authentic practice of the discipline by the student

Advanced Proficient Beginning Unacceptable

All relevant elements of the methodology or frameworks are skillfully and accurately applied.

Critical elements of methodology or frameworks are appropriately applied although more subtle elements are missing.

Critical elements of the methodology or framework are missing, incorrectly applied or unfocused.

Demonstrates a misunderstanding of the methodology or framework.

Critique / Analysis / Evaluation

Project or practice is assessed according to disciplinary standards and project or practice goals by the student.

Advanced Proficient Beginning Unacceptable

Analysis of project or practice is deep and elegant.

Results are reviewed relative to the goals with thorough, specific consideration of need for further work.

Discusses in detail relevant and supported limitations and implications.

Analysis of project or practice is adequate.

Reviews results relative to goals with some consideration of need for further work.

Discusses relevant and supported limitations and implications.

Analysis of project or practice is brief and lacks depth.

Reviews results in terms of the goals with little, if any, consideration of need for further work.

Presents relevant and supported limitations and implications.

Analysis of project or practice is superficial.

Reviews results superficially in terms of the goals with no consideration of need for further work.

Presents limitations and implications, but they are possibly irrelevant and unsupported.

Revision and Refinement

Project or practice is developed through revising and refining by the student

Advanced Proficient Beginning Unacceptable

Synthesizes feedback to productively develop project or practice.

Revises and refines project or practice in a focused and systematic manner.

Revises project or practice directly toward greater depth, clarity and effectiveness.

Incorporates feedback directly to productively develop project or practice

Revises and refines project or practice in a systematic manner.

Revises project or practice somewhat directly toward greater depth, clarity and effectiveness.

Some feedback is incorporated to develop project or practice.

Revises and refines project or practice in an unsystematic manner.

Revises project or practice with limited effect on depth, clarity and effectiveness.

Does not fully understand or incorporate feedback.

Project or practice is either not revised or revisions are ineffective.

Student’s presentation is effective and discipline appropriate

Advanced Proficient Beginning Unacceptable

Purpose, relevance and central point of presentation are obvious.

The presentation is discipline appropriate as gauged by style, format, theoretical premise, and recognition of sources and done at a professional level.

Purpose, relevance and central point of presentation are evident.

The presentation is discipline appropriate as gauged by style, format, theoretical premise, and recognition of sources and done at a near-professional level.

Purpose, relevance and central point of presentation are implied.

The presentation is discipline appropriate as gauged by style, format, theoretical premise, and recognition of sources and done at a novice level.

Purpose, relevance and central point of presentation are neither evident nor implied.

The presentation reflects a lack of understanding of the discipline-appropriate norms.

The Scholarship in Practice Rubric was developed by the Scholarship in Practice Faculty Board, supported by the Office of Undergraduate Studies and the Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment with the Scholarship in Practice instructors upon review of the AAC&U VALUE rubrics and according to standards determined by the Scholarship in Practice Faculty Board for student performance in the General Education Scholarship in Practice courses.  The rubric defines the standards for student performance in Scholarship in Practice courses at the University of Maryland.

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