Assignments & Grading
Overview • Assignment 1 • Assignment 2 • Assignment 3
Participation • Grading
Overview
There are three major, required assignments in this course. There is also a percentage of your grade allotted to participation in class and group discussion forums and your contribution to the group work required in building a thesaurus.
| Assignment Name | Related module | Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment 1: Domain analysis | Module 1 | April 18, 5 PM |
| Assignment 2: Thesaurus | Module 5 | June 4, 5 PM |
| Assignment 3: Reflection paper | Module 5 | June 9, 5 PM |
| Class Participation | Ongoing | Continuous |
Assignment 1: Domain analysis (Group assignment)
I discuss the domain analysis assignment on pages 5-7 of the project description.
Due Date:
Please refer to the table above for the due date. You should turn it in using Catalyst Collect It.
Objectives:
The objective of this assignment is to give you the opportunity to discuss, succinctly, the basic characteristics of your chosen domain.
Requirements:
Submit a 2-3 page double-spaced paper addressing some of the basic questions posed about domains in the Module One lecture and pages five and six of the project description. Please submit only one paper per group!
Criteria:
In evaluating your domain analysis, I will look for evidence that you have identified the key features of your domain at a level of detail sufficient to guide you through the rest of the thesaurus construction process.
Assignment 2: Thesaurus (Individual or group assignment)
I discuss the components of your final thesaurus on pages 10-11 of the project description.
Due Date:
Please refer to the table above for the due date. You should turn it in using Catalyst Collect It. It should be submitted as a single Word-format file.
Objectives:
The objective of this assignment is to construct a subject language for indexing and retrieving documents as discussed in the project description.
Requirements:
You should submit a completed thesaurus for your chosen domain in a single Word-format file. It will consist of three parts:
- An introduction.
- The alphabetical index, including lead-in terms.
- The classified schedule.
The introduction should address:
- The information system, domain, and user group that the thesaurus is designed for.
- The various parts of the thesaurus and their uses.
- The rules that are important for searching and indexing with the thesaurus.
- How users should use the thesaurus.
- Examples and explanation of the structure of an entry.
- Discussion of the sources used for construction of the thesaurus.
- Explanations of any special or non-traditional features.
The final thesaurus will have around 100 descriptors, give or take.
Criteria:
I will base my evaluation of your thesaurus on the following criteria:
- Evidence of addressing user needs and domain characteristics.
- Compliance with the applicable parts of the thesaurus standards.
- Ability to explain the usage of the thesaurus and your editorial decisions in clear language.
- Utility as a tool for indexing and retrieval.
Assignment 3: Reflection paper (Individual assignment)
For your final paper, I would like for you to write a reflective essay of no more than 7 pages, or 2500 words, on the thesaurus construction process. Some of the topics you might address include:
- Major problems that you encountered, collectively or individually, and how you solved them;
- The sources that you used for harvesting the terms and your 'method' for including terms in your thesaurus;
- Your use of an expert and/or user group;
- Disagreements in editorial judgment between group members and explanations for why you made the choices you did;
- What you have learned and how you potentially would do things differently next time around.
You may also address any other issues you think are relevant to your thesaurus and what you learned in the process of building it.
Due Date:
Please refer to the table above for the due date. You should turn it in using Catalyst Collect It.
Criteria:
I will evaluate your final paper based on your ability to explain clearly and succinctly relevant features and points of disagreement in the thesaurus construction process.
Participation
As discussed in the project description, in the professional world thesaurus construction almost always takes place in groups. How your group chooses to work is up to you to decide collectively; you can use any medium for synchronous and asynchronous communication you choose. Regardless of how you decide to conduct it, your colleagues must be able to rely on you (and you on them) to contribute to your group work. To reduce potential problems, I would like for each of you to post an individual work plan to your colleagues via the communications tool you choose by Tuesday, April 13. In your individual work plan, you should state:
- What times each day you will check your email and discussion forums;
- If you plan to take a day off each week, what day that will be;
- When you could be available for synchronous communication and what modes you prefer using (phone calls, Skype, IM, the local coffee house, etc.)
- Any special skills you have (Web development, spreadsheet expertise, etc.) that might be useful to the project.
Along with your participation in group work, I expect you to take part in classwide discussion. You are expected to read and participate in class discussion forums or chats on a regular basis and to ask questions of your peers and answer their questions. Active participation requires one contribution (be it a question, answer, suggestion, or comment) per week to a discussion forum or chat room.
Grading
Your work will be graded Credit/No Credit (CR/NC). However, you must complete all the required work and I expect you to do work equivalent to a 3.0 to get credit for the class. For my expectations for 3.0 work, see the iSchool's Graduate Grading Criteria page.
General grading information for the University of Washington is available here. The iSchool has adopted its own criteria for grading graduate courses. The grading criteria used by the iSchool for graduate courses are available here.
Your written work will be graded based on its clarity, organization, balance, amount of pertinent detail included, depth and clarity of evaluative and analytical comments, and preparation. It will also be graded on the extent to which a good understanding of the material presented in the course is shown and on the extent to which directions are followed. If evaluative or analytical comments are required, they should be supported by factual evidence, either from readings or other documents. Other aspects of individual assignments may also be included in the grading.
Written work that shows a lack of understanding of subject matter, is unclear or poorly organized, contains few or irrelevant details, does not follow directions, contains little or unsubstantiated evaluative commentary, or is poorly written, prepared (e.g. typos, grammatical errors), or documented will receive low grades.
Evaluation of Student Work:
You may expect to receive comments on and evaluations of assignments and submitted work in a timely fashion. All work from the course will be returned, with comments, within two weeks of the last class of the quarter.
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Last updated: Monday, 29-Mar-2010 20:44:15 PDT
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