March 28

I have another issue with the rubric, this time with the rubric for grading students as they present their bill. Standing up straight, eye contact, and a clear voice are all worth two points. I can see why eye contact and clear voice are two points; there are gradations of these things. However, you either stand up straight or you don’t; I think that it should be worth one point. The other two categories are seven points each, solid reasoning in the bill and solid answers to questions. The number seven seems very arbitrary, and maybe it isn’t but I think something like that should have a rubric or a checklist of things that they are doing. I also think that the students should know and understand what they are being graded on. A short discussion about proper presentation behavior may help students, or in the pre-simulation explanation session it can be explained in more detail. Maybe the way this simulation is too informal; I think it needs to be more structured.