Rubrics for Dissertations
Introduction.
Rubrics used to evaluate research-based dissertation most often rate each section or chapter as well as the overall document. The section ratings may be holistic or broken down into components. There are examples of rubrics for the proposal and the final dissertation, as well as for the oral defense. These rubrics focus on many of the same dimensions used to rate papers (e.g., organization, thoroughness, mechanics, format). Rubrics for Written Assignments
Lovitts (2005) argued that faculty have implicit standards for evaluating dissertations and that making them explicit in a rubric makes evaluation of dissertations more valid, reliable, and consistent. In a study of faculty members in a sample of universities and disciplines, she asked participants to characterize dissertations and their components (i.e., problem statement, literature review, theory, methods, analysis, and discussion) at four levels of quality (i.e., Outstanding, Very Good, Acceptable, and Unacceptable).
Based on her data, she developed a table of the characteristics of dissertations of differing quality. For example, outstanding dissertations were described as
- Original, significant, compelling, creative, engaging, interesting, and thoughtful
- Very well written and organized
- Synthesizing information and connecting components seamlessly
- Exhibiting mature, independent thinking
- Having a point of view and authoritative voice
- Asking a new question or addressing an important problem
- Displaying deep understanding of massive amount of complicated literature
- Making focused, logical, rigorous, and sustained argument
- Theoretically sophisticated
- Using or developing new tools, methods, approaches, or types of analyses
- Having rich data
- Using analysis that is comprehensive, complete, and convincing
- Showing significant results
- Creating a conclusion that ties the whole thing together
- Of interest to a larger community
On the other hand, unacceptable dissertations were described as
- Poorly written, having grammatical and spelling errors,
- Having a sloppy presentation
- Plagiarized or deliberately misread or misused sources
- Lacking in understanding of basic concepts, processes, or conventions of discipline
- Lacking careful thought
- Looking at a problem that is trivial, weak, unoriginal, or already solved
- Misunderstanding or missing relevant literature
- Making a weak, inconsistent, self-contradictory, unconvincing, or invalid argument
- Not handling theory well, neglecting theory, or missing theory
- Relying on inappropriate of incorrect methods
- Presenting data that are flawed, wrong, false, or misrepresented
- Using wrong, inappropriate, incoherent, or confused analysis
- Including results that are obvious, already known, unexplained, or misinterpreted
- Having unsupported or exaggerated interpretation
- Failing to make a contribution
These descriptions could be used as a basis for a rubric to rate dissertations. Lovitts concluded that such a rubric could be used as a teaching tool during the dissertation process. Distributing it to students would set clear expectations at the outset and filling it out periodically would allow the advisor and student to evaluate progress and areas for improvement. Thus, the rubric can be a tool for faculty to provide feedback and establish benchmarks against which students can subsequently evaluate their own work. It can also be used in peer review, with students evaluating the work of their peers to provide an additional source of feedback. How to Grade a Dissertation
These are example of dissertation-related rubrics developed by Alliant schools and programs.
ELM and Ed Psych CSOE dissertation
LA Clinical PsyD proposal
LA Clinical PsyD dissertation and defense
CSPP Organizational Psychology dissertation
Examples of Rubrics for Rating Dissertation Proposals
Rubrics for Assessing Dissertations Texas A&M/Commerce Thesis and Dissertation Services
Dissertation Proposal Rubric Syracuse University Graduate School of Education
Thesis/Dissertation Proposal Rubric Fresno State Academics
Examples of Rubrics for Rating Dissertations
Rubric for Evaluating Dissertations The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Dissertation Rubric California State University/Northridge Michael D. Eisner School of Education
Dissertation Manuscript Evaluation Rubric Northcentral University Dissertation Center
Rubrics for evaluation proposal and final orals focus not only on the research itself, but also on the presentation, including how clear and organized the presentation is, how knowledgeable the student is, and how well the student answered questions.
Examples of Rubrics for Rating Oral Defense
Dissertation Defense Oral University of Mississippi Medical Center
Dissertation Defense Rubric Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine
University of Rhode Island Graduate Council Thesis/Dissertation Defense Evaluation
Responding, Evaluating, Grading
Rubric for a Research Proposal
Matthew Pearson - Writing Across the Curriculum
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Significance ‐ Impact of Proposed Research: (a) Demonstrated the potential value of solution or contribution to the research problem in advancing knowledge (a) within and (b) outside the area/field of study. (b) 5. Research and Design Methods ‐ Solution Approach: Applied sound state‐of‐the‐field research methods/tools to solve the ...
Dissertation Proposal Rubric. Graduate School of Education: Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership. Dissertation Proposal Rubric: 5-part dissertation (with edits by Dannelle D. Stevens, Coordinator and Gayle Thieman, Doctoral Program Committee Member) Score every dimension: Unsatisfactory = 1; Emerging = 2; Proficient = 3; Exemplary = 4.
The gap of knowledge of the study is clearly and specifically stated in paragraph 3 to convince the readers of the need to conduct such study. 7. The research paradigm is able to provide the direction and skeletal framework of the study. 8. The aims/ purposes or objectives were thoroughly presented.
Thesis/Dissertation Proposal Rubric Instructions for scoring: Use the check boxes for detailed feedback, then make global judgments for each criterion rating and overall assessment. Criterion Does not meet expectations = 1 Meets expectations = 2 Exceeds expectations = 3 Score 1. Mastery of theories and concepts in the field demonstrated
Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education Rubric for Scoring the Dissertation Proposal. Unacceptable (1) Acceptable (2) Target (3) Score. Introduction. Demonstrates minimal knowledge and application of presenting the introduction. Demonstrates adequate competence in establishing a framework for the research; lays the broad ...
Rubrics used to evaluate research-based dissertation most often rate each section or chapter as well as the overall document. The section ratings may be holistic or broken down into components. There are examples of rubrics for the proposal and the final dissertation, as well as for the oral defense. These rubrics focus on many of the same ...
Matthew Pearson - Writing Across the Curriculum. The following rubric guides students' writing process by making explicit the conventions for a research proposal. It also leaves room for the instructor to comment on each particular section of the proposal. Clear introduction or abstract (your choice), introducing the purpose, scope, and ...
Dissertation Chapter 1 - 5 Sections Rubric - Version 1 May 1, 2019 APA formatting errors. Verb tense is an important consideration for Chapters 1 through 3. For the proposal, the researcher uses future tense (e.g. "The purpose of this study is to…"), whereas in the dissertation, the chapters are revised to reflect past tense (e.g. "The
The proposal conveys the form that the writing will take and the justification for that form. The proposal should explain the relevance of specific courses to the thesis topic. The student has demonstrated the ability to work steadily on, and complete, sustained writing projects with examples of previous projects and research.
Thesis and Dissertation Proposal Evaluation Rubric. Component . Fully met (3) Met (2) Partially Met (1) Not met (0) Score. Proposal overview. Effectively and insightfully develops a set of testable, supportable and impactful study hypotheses. Develops a set of testable and supportable hypotheses.
Demonstrates logical sequencing of ideas. Thesis is organized, and all required information is presented. Minimal difficulty with sequencing ideas. Thesis organization is adequate or has a logical organization, but idea sequencing is not fully developed. Thesis is disorganized and poorly structured, or the flow of information is confusing.
Research Proposal Presentation Rubric Topic Advanced Effective/Developing Less Effective/Introductory Poor Content 7 6 5 4 or lower Topic & Context (Total Possible = 7 Points) ... Connection of 3 studies to thesis may be slightly unclear. All studies are described in an unclear manner; connection of studies to thesis is unclear. Literature
SLO 1: Design a study of an educational research problem or phenomenon using appropriate methodologies. Introduction. Acceptable. Developing. Unacceptable. Problem statement/rationale/purpose. References or arguments strongly motivate study of topic; evidence provided to support research problem. Unclear or weak argument provided to motivate ...
Texas A & M University - Commerce, Department of Health & Human Performance - Thesis Grading Rubric. CRITERIA. Beginning = 1. Basic = 2. Proficient = 3. Mastery = 4. Significance of Topic. Topic is of little importance or unrelated to field of study. Topic will not add to the body of literature in the field of study.
Rubrics for Assessing Dissertations. The following links are to the rubrics that will be used to provide detailed feedback on your dissertation proposal. OTDS currently has a rubric for quantitative, qualitative, interpretive, and mixed-method research. The rubric will be completed by a Graduate Representative at your Dissertation Proposal ...
Scoring Rubric for Budget and Resume. Category. 0 = Incomplete. 1 = Complete. Budget. Proposed budget is incomplete and/or does not adequate describe resources and materials needed for the proposal. Proposed budget is complete and adequately describes resources and materials needed for the proposal. Resume.
The purpose of this grading rubric is to support your development as a scholar-researcher during the dissertation process. Your committee will use this rubric to evaluate your proposal and dissertation and communicate feedback about necessary revisions that will help you complete this project. As you write, use this rubric as an outline for ...
Rubric for Evaluation of Dissertation The following rubric is to be used for evaluation of the quality of TCSPP dissertations both at the proposal (Chapters 1-3) and defense (Chapters 1-5). Each chapter of doctoral dissertations, to be accepted at TCSPP, must achieve or be rated at Performance Level 3 or 4.
Research Proposal and Presentation. Research Proposal Introduction. The rubic is used to appraise the initial research proposal presented in writing and class presentation by MBA students regarding their final case study analysis. Rubric Code: H882AC.
Graduate School of Education: Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership. Dissertation Proposal Rubric: 5-chapter dissertation (with edits by Dannelle D. Stevens, Coordinator and Gayle Thieman, Doctoral Program Committee Member) Student Faculty Reviewer Date of oral presentation: Score every dimension: Unsatisfactory = 1; Emerging = 2 ...
The rubrics included in our dataset were used to assess 318 students who wrote their thesis within the broad biology bachelor programme of Utrecht University. Rubric scores are only documented after students pass the course (thesis grade of 5.5 or above, scale 1.0 to 10.0).
Instructions for Thesis Committee Chair: For each rubric row (i.e., Organization Rubric, Presentation Rubric, etc.), 1. Assign a numeric score, listed at the top of the column, depending on the committee member's choice (i.e., Excellent = 4, Very Good = 3, etc.). 2. Total the scores from each committee member's rubric form for that rubric ...
Thesis and Defense (page 1) In determining the overall assessment and the written feedback, committee members should use the relevant rubrics as a guide but may include additional relevant feedback. The overall assessment for the Research Thesis and Defense (Pass with Distinction, Pass, or Fail) should be marked on the form.