Assessment of Technical Writing and Synthesis of Course Topics Utilizing a Standardized Rubric
Tanya Kunberger

Abstract
Strong communication has been identified by many sources as a critical skill for college graduates. While these communication skills are developed throughout the undergraduate curriculum, this paper focuses on a single course within the first semester of the senior year. In this class students are required to read several journal articles and complete associated brief writing assignments prior to class discussions. The method for assessing each writing assignment is a detailed rubric which is presented at the beginning of the semester and applied to all submissions. This paper discusses the reason behind and development of the rubric, the assessment of student technical writing and synthesis of course topics as a function of time throughout the semester, and an evaluation of the initial use of this rubric grading method in the course. Results found improvement in overall class performance as well as improved performance by a majority of individuals.

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