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ASC Grading Explanation & Model

Reminder: All work submitted in this course will be held in strictest confidence. As stated in the syllabus, I can use your work, or parts of your work, as models.  Any work used as models will be anonymous and may be edited or changed so that the student cannot be identified or personal information about him/her will not be compromised. There is nothing personal about my choice of examples, it is so all can learn for the next assignment(s). If your work is cited and there are parts you wish to have removed or changed, let me know and I will do so.

In Part A of the assignment you were to just list the score as directed.

In Part B of this ASC assignment, you were to write, in your own words, the interpretation of the score for each questionnaire.  Below are two acceptable and one unacceptable answer from the State Anxiety Inventory (Spielberg):

 ACCEPTABLE:

“According to the State Anxiety Inventory, scores range from 20 to 80.  Considering my score is 38, it means that I have an average level of anxiety.  The reason why I feel I am average when it comes to my anxiety levels is because everyone has to have some sort of anxiety.  Very rarely will you ever find someone who has a score of 20-25.  If someone did have a score that low, I would consider them to either be lying or have a very boring life.  Everybody at some point has anxiety that occurs.  To me, not all anxiety is bad.  Any unexpected event (whether good or bad) can cause anxiety.  For example, if you are about to go on a first date with someone or another important event, you may feel some symptoms that Spielberg put in his test that he considered were anxiety signs.  Symptoms such as being overexcited, anxious, nervous, and even jittery.  I feel all these signs even when I am happy, content, and self-confident of myself.”

Score: 48 “The range of scores for this test range from 20-80, representing the level of anxiety at the present time. My score of 48 would indicate that I have a little above average level of anxiety right now; that is I have some calming, secure feelings and some tense feelings. Even though the score is right in the middle, it is still a decent level of anxiety because the scale doesn’t even start until a level of 20. “

 UNACCEPTABLE:

“This assessment is trying to interpret how you feel overall in day to day life. It was trying to see if you experienced anything that could contribute to stress in your life.”

 

In Part C of this assignment you were to tell if you agreed with the outcome of each questionnaire by using examples from your life. Some did not use specific examples to explain the agreement or disagreement.

EXAMPLE:

This test was almost completely accurate. The one place that it was wrong was when it said that I avoid taking things personally, I kind of have a problem with taking things personally and getting my feelings hurt. This is something that I have had to deal with all my life, and I have come to the conclusion that it is okay because it just shows how much I care and love. I do on the other hand tend to bounce back from situations good and bad and one of my most favorite lines is everything that happens happens for a reason. I live by that statement and look at everything as a blessing. For example my parents getting a divorce. At first it was horrible but now that I look at it, it was one of the best things that happened in my life. My parents were happy again and I got 6 great siblings out of the whole deal and two more wonderful parents.

Overall Grading Criteria

1. Grades are based on the OVERALL quality of the assignment.  In this regard, I read each assignment twice, once for overall impression and once for specifics.

2. When appropriate, you should have listed one or two (depending on the assignment) Stress Management Assignment Objectives (SMAO) for the assignment.  The SMAOs for the whole assignment should be listed at the top of the assignment. This assures me that you are aware of the purpose of the assignment.  A link to the list of these objectives can be found under "AA (Assignments Assistance)."

3. On the Grade Post, for each assignment there will be recorded in two columns: (a) points earned; (b) grading criteria for the assignment.  The Grading Criteria will be a code which you can find the general interpretation under the link "Grading Criteria" on the page where the assignment is described. After one week the "Grading Criteria" column will be removed.

ASC Specific

The most common specific mistakes included the following:

4. Confusing Part B (interpretation for assessment stated after taking test) with Part C (specific examples from life).  A couple of you seemed to include C in B.  They should have been separate.  On the Grade Post this will be indicated by "B=C?".

5. From Grading Criteria: Ca (not detailed) and/or Cb (not specific lifestyle examples): This is a matter of detail and varying degrees of correctness.  It is not an absolute.  What is meant by this is that some of your responses to each assessment were better for some assessments than for others.  It does not mean that you didn't have any life examples.  It also might mean that your life examples were general and not specific for some of the assessments.

Below are examples and explanations with my thoughts in (red):

Model 1 (A "2Bb & 2Ca" on the Grade Post for these parts of the assignment):  (Enneagram Personality Type Indicator in which the high score was 7 Type 1 (Reformer) & Type 3 (Motivator)

Part B: "I am very surprised that I received a tie score in the Motivator and Reformer category.  However, I do consider myself a motivator.  Often my friends will come to me for motivation so they can get through whatever they are dealing with at the moment. I don’t consider myself a reformer. " (Not an interpretation of the score given for the assessment.  Did he not click the link mentioned in the assignment?)

Part C: "I do not thinks that the test is accurate.  I am surprised that I received a 0 in the Helper category because I am always willing to help my family and friends in any way that I can. (Why didn't he address the highest scored category--Romantic?) (What is an example of helping friends and/or family?  Too general, not specific) I am also surprised that I received a -1 in the peacemaker category because I don't like to see people in conflict."  (There is nothing wrong with stating which category you feel is more descriptive of you, but address the highest scoring category first (Romantic) with specific examples illustrating why this is not true for you.  THEN, state the categories you feel are more appropriate.) 

(Keep in mind that on any assessment YOU are the one answering the questions.  What did the assessment "pick up" in your answers that would allow the interpretation to be what it is?)

Model 2 (An "ok" on the Grade Post): (Enneagram Personality Type Indicator in which the high score was 8 Type 4 (Romantic/Artist).

Part B: "The type 4 personality is very deep and caring, but extremely insecure and needs a great deal of love, understanding and support from the people in their lives.  They are very emotional people who have a desire to better understand themselves, but have difficulty attaining it.  They have tendencies to over-dramatize situations and take too many things personally, anything from what other people do to the situations they put themselves in.  I would even go as far as calling them martyrs. "

Part C (Highly edited by Dr. G. for personal reasons): "I had no idea I was a tragedy queen.  Wait – yes I did.  I read the description of this type and thought, holy cow, this is so me.  I always thought of myself as the oddball.  I was singled out in school as one of the people that constantly get picked on, and picked last for gym class.  I was always worried about whether people liked me or not, and if they seemed like they liked me I thought that they really had another agenda, and eventually they would use their gained position to humiliate me somehow.  I (was) always worried about what other people are thinking about me.... I feel very deeply.  I am such the romantic.(specific example) ...  Even as a parent, I can see that I could be all of those things IF I wasn’t so concerned about myself.  I am in the death loop described in the cycle section.  I am trying desperately to get out of it.  My boyfriend got so tired of my (specific example)....  My parents got (specific example) .... Prior to that I had (specific example) ...  I... (at the time, had) always thought that I was jinxed, and would never succeed at anything.  Tragedy is something I ... (thrived) on.  When something (went) horribly wrong I (accepted) it as my destiny to suffer.  Talk about hitting the nail on the head.  This evaluation proved to be amazingly accurate."