Stewardship of Public Lands
Term Research Project

The Grading Rubric for the term paper  

Students will research, individually or with a partner, the history and consequences of fire on a particular public land area in Utah. Examples are:

The paper will be 10-12 pages in length and be evaluated in terms of the following:

Introduction:  What is the research question/topic? Does this section clearly and briefly describe the purpose, importance, and plan of the paper? Does the rest of the paper follow through from the introduction?

Conclusion: Are the main points summed up? Are the conclusions related to the research question?

Content: Does the paper provide a complete and accurate discussion of the research question/topic using examples from the literature?  Does it demonstrate critical thinking when evaluating ideas? Are the conclusions explained and backed by reasons/sources?

Writing: Are the sentences clear? Do they flow in logical order to make a persuasive case?  Are their grammatical errors?

Citations: Are in-text citations appropriately used to credit all material from other sources?

Are there no more than 4 web sites? Are there at least 3 peer-reviewed scholarly sources?

The research will be made public -- to the agency consulted and/or on the class web page.