INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT TRADING CARD ASSIGNMENT



EXPECTATION: Students will investigate a social sciences issue and produce a report that examines the issue from two opposing perspectives

RATIONALE: Students will have the opportunity to utilize skills and knowledge that have been developed during the course to investigate a social issue or problem. The investigation will allow students to assemble information on two perspectives of a topic of interest. Each student will then produce a written submission on these perspectives.

PROCESS:

CRITERIA:

ASSESSMENT:

Appendix A: Annotated References List

Name

AT-A-GLANCE SUMMARY CRITERIA

Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Undeveloped

5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0

1. MESSAGE: Clearly communicates ideas by:

(Think)

a) identifying 5 -7 legitimate sources

b) providing thorough, clear and succinct information about the nature of the resource, as well

as its reliability/respectability and usefulness

Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Undeveloped

5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0

2. FORMAT: Clearly presents ideas with:

(Comm.)

a) reader-friendly font/style/spacing

b) sources shown in APA style

Anecdotal Comments:

Appendix B: Graphic Organizer

Name

AT-A-GLANCE SUMMARY CRITERIA

Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Undeveloped

5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0

1. MESSAGE: Clearly communicates ideas by:

(Think)

identifying the topic and the two perspectives

identifying three to five arguments that support each perspective of the topic

providing evidence for each that supports each argument

Excellent Very Good Good Satisfactory Undeveloped

5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0

2. FORMAT: Clearly presents ideas with:

(Comm.)

reader-friendly font/style/spacing

embedded citation provided for each piece of evidence

free of spelling and grammar errors

Anecdotal Comments:

Appendix C: Article

Instructor Evaluation Name

Category Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

| | | | | |

|Topic |clearly and effectively |perspective of the article mostly |perspective of the article |perspectives the article are |

|(App.) |demonstrates the evidence |focuses on evidence presented for |provides superficial evidence |unclear or limited in focus |

| |presented for each of the two |each of the two sides of the |relevant to the study of the | |

| |sides of the argument is relevant |argument is relevant to the study |Social Sciences  | |

| |to the study of the Social |of the Social Sciences  | | |

| |Sciences  | | | |

| | |evidence is clearly presented | | |

| |evidence is clearly and |using some relevant connections |evidence seems to focus on summary|summary of research prevails |

| |thoughtfully presented using |and examples |of research rather than providing |rather than revealing any |

| |relevant connections/ | |supporting evident; use of |supporting evidence |

| |examples | |examples is weak | |

|Format | | | | |

|(Comm.) |entry is word- processed |entry is word-processed; format |entry is not word-processed or |entries are illegible; format is |

| |consistently using a highly |and font choice are suitable |format/font is inconsistent |confusing to follow; font is |

| |effective format, font | | |difficult to read |

| |(style/size) and | | | |

| |spacing | | | |

| | |writing style is good, minor |writing is inadequate, many errors|writing is unclear, no |

| |writing style is succinct, |errors exist, close to page limit |exist, too short or too long |proof-reading is evident, |

| |error-free, within the limit of |(within ½ page) | |excessively short/long |

| |2-3 pages | | | |

| | |complete References list, |complete References list | |

| | |incorporating embedded citations | |References list incomplete; too |

| |complete References list, | | |few sources |

| |incorporating embedded citations | | | |

| |using APA style | | | |

Appendix E: Topic List

TOPICS

1. Prescription medication advertisements: Improving Health or Creating Ailments

2. Beauty Pageants: Providing Opportunities or Objectifying Women

3. Human Genome Project: Essential Medical Tool or Cosmetic Genetics

4. Same-Sex Classes: Improved Learning or Sexual Segregation

5. Marriage: Sacred Institution or Bygone Tradition

6. Social Networking: Increased Connectivity or Social Isolation

7. Cell Phones: Essential Communication Tool or Time-consuming Distraction

8. Violence in Sports: Part of the Game or Criminal Assault

9. Computer Technology and Children: Enhancing or Delaying Cognitive Development

10. Increased Grades Among North American Students: A smarter society or grossly

inflated marks

11. Dissociative Identity Disorder: Legitimate mental illness or Felonious excuse

12. Multiculturalism: Social Cohesion or Social Fragmentation

13. Technology in the Workplace: Improving work efficiency or Decreasing productivity

14. Violent Video Games: Promoting violence or Harmless entertainment

15. Having Children: Social Pressure or Individual Willingness

16. Parapsychology (e.g. clairvoyance, telepathy): Fact or Fiction

17. Corporate Sponsorship in Schools: Providing Necessary Funding or Sacrificing

Education for Profit

18. (Drug) addictions: Mental illness or Life choice

19. Praising Children: Supporting healthy development or causing harm

20. (Violence) in Humans: Naturally occurring (nature) or learned behaviour (nurture)

21. Standardized Testing: Effective gauge of school effectiveness or Limiting curriculum

22. Animal Testing: Finding cures to disease or unnecessary cruelty

23. School Uniforms: Making schools safer or Forcing Conformity

24. Technology in the Classroom: Essential Educational Tool or Unnecessary Distraction

25. Designer Babies: Human Diversity or Genetic Discrimination

26. Obesity: Corporate Conspiracy or Individual Failure to take responsibility

27. Parental Tough Love: Necessary behaviour modification or Poisoning relationships

28. Workaholics: Lifestyle choice or a Need for mandatory relaxation time

29. Tests and Exams: Effective measure of learning or Administrative exercises

30. Gap Year: Wasting valuable time or Period of meaningful reflection

31. Internet and Children: Erosion of critical thinking skills or Advancing intelligence

32. Banning Religious Symbols in Public Buildings: Division of society or Integration of

communities

33. Year-Round Schooling: Uninterrupted Education or Costly Practice

34. Mandatory Parenting Classes: Having children is a right or Eliminating bad

parenting

35. Ban on Smoking: Protecting health of citizens or Threat to lifestyle choice

36. Legalization of Polygamy: Economically efficient or Creating hierarchies

37. Social Media: Improving Public Dialogue or (Anonymous) Online Aggression

38. Birth Order: Shaping Behaviour or Personality Development Myth

39. Media Coverage of Mass Violence: Necessary Information or Irresponsible

Sensationalism

40. Later School Start Times: Improved Academics or Disrupting School-Day Routines

41. Hypnotherapy: Clinical hocus pocus or Real science

42. Advocacy Groups: Bridging Gaps or Creating Divides

43. Antidepressants: Over-prescribed medication or Solution to mental illness

44. Stay-At-Home-Mothers: Job that should be paid by the government or life choice

45. Random Drug Testing In Schools: Drug use prevention or Violation of personal

Privacy

46. Your own topic ( subject to teacher approval

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Point/Counterpoint: A Social Concern

The Scenario At Large

As with many topics of social concern, the general population may not have a substantial level of understanding. This may lead to inaccurate perceptions of social trends and issues. As an expert in the social sciences, you have been chosen by the magazine, Social Science Today, to write an informative report that outlines two sides of a current social problem or issue. To do this, you will need to conduct research in order to find in-depth information on the topic in order to produce an interesting and illuminating account to your readers.

Assuming the role of an author, each student will conduct research on a contemporary topic of social interest. Using reliable electronic databases from the Library, each student will seek out information on his/her topic in order to produce an informative report for a magazine. The process for writing the report will extend over four* phases.

• All phases must be completed in order to receive a mark for the final submission.

• Each phase must be completed and returned to the student before proceeding to

the next stage.

LIBRARY PERIOD 1: Pre-research source list with annotations:

- Annotated References List of five to seven reliable/reputable sources using the Library databases; the source citation plus five to six sentences that describes how the source is useful to the topic. The assignment will be submitted Google Docs.

LIBRARY PERIOD 2: Gathering background information

- Perspective Organizer that provides arguments for both perspectives of

The issue. Information will be gathered from the sources that were

located in the previous Library session. The organizer will be submitted

through Google Docs

REPORT DRAFT*: Draft submission for teacher editing and feedback with

parenthetical references and sources in APA format.

FINAL SUBMISSION: Using teacher edits (if applicable), write final copy and submit

to complete with parenthetical references and

sources in APA format.

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Report: The report will examine the topic from two perspectives, providing key information that the public should know. For example:

Abortion: The Right to Choose or Infanticide?

Students are expected to parenthetical references in the body of their report as well as provide a complete and accurate References list at the end of the artcile using APA (American Psychological Association) style.

Format: The word-processed news article will be a succinctly written, 2-3 page entry, double-spaced with suitable font choice/size for readability and appropriate margins for teacher response. Graphics may be used and should be appropriate to the topic theme. The final copy of the article will be submitted through .

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The criteria, as described above, are assessed by both the instructor and the student using At-A-Glance Evaluation Checklist for both the Source List and Pro/Con Organizer. The report will be evaluated using a comprehensive rubric.

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Annotated References List

AT-A-GLANCE CHECKLIST

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Overall Mark

Overall Mark

Graphic Organizer

AT-A-GLANCE CHECKLIST

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Overall Level

Article

EVALUATION RUBRIC

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