Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment - Western Washington University's Teaching and Learning Center

Writing Resources

Discipline-Based Writing Rubric

CONTENT	strong	acceptable	weak	not acceptable
How appropriate is the topic in terms of the assignment? How evident is the purpose for writing? To what extent is the evidence/information: Relevant? Accurate? Necessary? Complete?
REASONING	strong	acceptable	weak	not acceptable
How significant are the claims/ideas/purpose? what is the quality of the evidence? How sufficient is the context provided? What what extent are assumptions recognized and made explicit? To what extent does the interpretation and analysis of evidence/information/visuals show: Depth of thinking? Logical reasoning? Complex reasoning? Accurate conclusions? Informed recommendations?
ORGANIZATION	strong	acceptable	weak	not acceptable
How well does the overall organization capture the designated purpose? To what extent does the ordering of information/evidence lead the reader through the text? (e.g., signposts, transitions, headings, bullets) How well do the parts connect with each other and the governing ideas? How well integrated are the visual and verbal elements?
RHETORIC OF THE DISCIPLINE	strong	acceptable	weak	not acceptable
To what extent is there sufficient knowledge of the subject demsonstrated? To what extent does the use of specialized concepts demonstrate understanding? How appropriate to the discipline is the: Genre? Format? Language? Tone? To what extent is there evidence of disciplinary ways of thinking and an appropriate sense of audience?
CONVENTIONS/PRESENTATION	strong	acceptable	weak	not acceptable
To what extent does the reveal evidence: Crafting? Editing? Proofreading? How accurately and complete is the information cited? How appropriate is the documentation style? How effective is the format used, including visuals and diagrams?
OVERALL EVALUATION	strong	acceptable	weak	not acceptable