Grades on the Final Drafts of the Research Posters

I have graded all of the Research Posters. The average for the course was 422 points out of the available 500 points, which is approximately an 84 or a B on the standard VT grade scale.

Grade Distribution on Research Posters Assignment

Grade Distribution Bar Chart

How to See Comments on Your Draft

If you did not receive full credit for your Final, Finished Draft (that is, 500 points), you will find comment(s) on your submission that tells you why points were deducted.

Use this documentation from Canvas for help finding the notes on your drafts:

Overall Feedback for the Class

Meet the requirements of the assignment. Some folks either failed to read the assignment or didn’t pay attention to the details. Their projects were incorrectly focused. Rather than examining how a kind of writing is done in the writer’s field, these projects focused on something else altogether (e.g., recommending the best Linux distro). They were off-focus for the assignment.
Pay attention to the writing scenario. The assignment included a specific writing scenario, with a specific organization that was required (as well as other requirements). Some posters did not follow the required organization. Others failed to include all of the information on one slide, as required.
Use document design to help readers navigate your report. The posters included various design errors, with the following being the most frequent:
- Text is too small and/or too dense. Use appropriately-sized headings and text (24 pt minimum). See
- #FridayFact: An Effective Research Poster Is a Readable Research Poster.
- Text is centered. Use flush left, ragged right text. See #FridayFact: Centered Text Is Harder to Read.
- Visuals were completely missing or were decorative rather than used to clarify the content.
Help from the Writing Center: As a reminder, anyone can visit the Writing Center in the library for help with projects for the course. Writing Center tutors can help you strengthen your content as well as work on document design and issues with phrasing, grammar, or punctuation. You can read more about the Writing Center and make an appointment on the Writing Center’s webpage.
Help from the 360 Digital Studio: Anyone in the course can also visit the 360 Digital Studio Links to an external site. in Shanks 360 Links to an external site. for help with any assignment in this course. Find more details on the 360 Digital Studio Links to an external site. in the Course Manual.

Questions about Your Grade

If I made a mistake
Send me a message in Canvas with the details. I’ll fix it.
If there were problems with the content or design of your document
You cannot resubmit your work for a different grade. You can, however, earn additional points on other course activities to improve your grade in the course. Use the Points Totals by Week page to see how many points you should have each week in order to stay on track for the grade you have set as your goal in the course.
If you did not submit your work at all
It is too late. You will no longer be able to earn a B or better in the course. See the information on “Required Element for All Major Writing Projects Links to an external site.” for details.
If something else is going on
Send me a message in Canvas with the details. I’ll see what I can do to help you.