Criterion B: Communication
Achievement level
0 The student neither provides explanations nor
uses appropriate forms of representation (for example, symbols, tables,
graphs and/or diagrams).
1 The student attempts to provide
explanations or uses some appropriate forms of representation (for
example, symbols, tables, graphs and/or diagrams).
2 The student
provides adequate explanations or arguments, and communicates them
using appropriate forms of representation (for example, symbols,
tables, graphs and/or diagrams).
3 The student provides complete,
coherent explanations or arguments, and communicates them clearly using
appropriate forms of representation (for example, symbols, tables,
graphs and/or diagrams).
B0 The student neither provides explanations nor
uses appropriate forms of representation (for example, symbols, tables,
graphs and/or diagrams).
To earn B0, you'd have to do almost nothing on the task. It's really hard to get. Please don't make this a goal.
B1 The student attempts to provide
explanations or uses some appropriate forms of representation (for
example, symbols, tables, graphs and/or diagrams).
Student 1
Here's
an example of atrocious writing. Yes, the student's handwriting is
naturally poor. But on this page in particular, he's made it worse than
usual by writing over math constantly. Did I mention that you should never
write over math? I asked some colleagues what they thought one of the
entries might say. I recorded their responses in my comments on the
student work.
Student 2
This shows inadequate labeling, first on a table, and later on a graph. Axes should be labeled
meaningfully
in the context of the problems. The table gives no indication as to
where the last column of values comes from. Another problem with the
graph is that it was at the end of the entire assignment instead of
being inserted near where it was mentioned. Make things easy for the
reader to find.
Student 3
This
is the very beginning of a student's response to the drugs task. It
shows a remarkable lack of verbal communication. The math is there, to
some extent, although the function type is incorrect. But the work
scored B1 because despite giving equations, graphs, and tables, there
were only four complete sentences in the entire response.
B2 The student
provides adequate explanations or arguments, and communicates them
using appropriate forms of representation (for example, symbols,
tables, graphs and/or diagrams).
Student 1
The
first three clips here are from the same student. In this one, her work
really needs some sort of introduction. She also starts several parts
by labeling work with incomplete sentences rather than making it more
readable. The tree diagram, however is fine, and the tables that follow
in her work are neat and well-labeled. What she has really done here is
title and caption the tables and trees rather than explaining what she
is doing.
Never, ever, ever write over math. It is a big hit to readability, and hence communication.
It's
important that pronouns have antecedents, of course. (I know it's math
class, but you're communicating in both mathematics and English, and
they must both be correct.) All other references should also be clear.
In the line below, there's no indication here (or on the bottom of the
previous page) as to what "your respective numbers" might mean in
context.
And
here, values previously found have been identified incorrectly. This
has caused her confusion and made it difficult for her to answer this
part clearly. Note that despite these examples, the student earned B2
-- a lot of her work was clearly communicated. Every time the reader
has to stop and wonder what you meant indicates a communication problem.
Student 2
This
work was done in pencil, which is really hard to read. I have darkened
it up here for you, but my comments were originally in bright red to
give you an idea of how much change was required. The table headings
should indicate what the numbers mean in the context of the problem.
The first column (on the outside) is not labeled at all. The others are
labeled with formulas, but no indication as to what the numbers
actually mean.
B3 The student provides complete,
coherent explanations or arguments, and communicates them clearly using
appropriate forms of representation (for example, symbols, tables,
graphs and/or diagrams).
Here,
the work is neatly written, and the second table does a very nice job
of showing the process by which values were arrived at without taking
up lots of space with tedious explanations that would be more trouble
than the clarity they would provide. Her trees were done by hand and
were likewise very clear and easy to follow. Computations which
followed were annotated as to what they meant. It is altogether very
easy to follow. Notice also that she typed up the tables and put them
into her handwritten document using tape. This worked just fine, and
did not detract from clarity at all.
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