Distinguished - Thoroughly and clearly explains how the project will adhere to the AAA’s statement on ethics.

Proficient - Explains how the project will adhere to the AAA’s statement on ethics. Minor details are missing or are unclear.

Basic - Minimally explains how the project will adhere to the AAA’s statement on ethics. Details are missing and/or are unclear.

Below Expectations - Attempts to explain how the project will adhere to the AAA’s statement on ethics; however, significant details are missing and are unclear.

Non-Performance - The explanation of how the project will adhere to the AAA’s statement on ethics is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Clearly identifies the time and place where participant observation will be conducted and provides a detailed description of the event. 

Proficient - Identifies the time and place where participant observation will be conducted and provides a description of the event. Minor details are missing or are slightly unclear.

Basic - Identifies the time and place where the participant observation will be conducted and partially describes the event. Relevant details are missing or are unclear. 

Below Expectations - Identifies the time and place where the participant observation will be conducted and attempts to describe the event; however, significant details are missing and are unclear.

Non-Performance - The identification of the time and place where the participant observation will be conducted and description of the event is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Thoroughly assesses the feasibility of the project and provides a clear description of the process to obtain permission to attend the event and clearly explains how the permission was obtained. 

Proficient - Assesses the feasibility of the project and provides a description of the process to obtain permission to attend the event and explains how the permission was obtained. Minor details are missing or are slightly unclear.

Basic - Minimally assesses the feasibility of the project and provides a description of the process to obtain permission to attend the event and partially explains how the permission was obtained. Details are missing and/or are unclear.

Below Expectations - Attempts to assess the feasibility of the project and provide a description of the process to obtain permission to attend the event and explain how the permission was obtained; however, significant details are missing and are unclear.

Non-Performance - The assessment of the feasibility of the project and a description of the process to obtain permission to attend the event and explanation of how the permission was obtained are either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Thoroughly describes two high quality, scholarly sources and clearly indicates how these sources will help prepare the student for their research.

Proficient - Describes two scholarly sources and indicates how these sources will help prepare the student for their research. Minor details are missing or are slightly unclear.

Basic - Minimally describes two sources and somewhat indicates how these sources will help prepare the student for their research. Details are missing and/or are unclear and the sources may not be entirely scholarly. 

Below Expectations - Attempts to describe two sources and indicate how these sources will help prepare the student for their research; however, significant details are missing and are unclear and the sources are not scholarly.

Non-Performance - The description of two scholarly sources and indication of how the sources will help the student to prepare for their research is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Comprehensively integrates the reading by Wagner, providing an insightful analysis of the challenges involved in studying religion in American society as well as how this relates to the religious event to be observed for this research project.

Proficient - Integrates the reading by Wagner, providing an analysis of the challenges involved in studying religion in American society as well as how this relates to the religious event to be observed for this research project. Connections between these concepts are slightly underdeveloped.

Basic - Minimally integrates the reading by Wagner, providing a brief analysis of the challenges involved in studying religion in American society. The analysis is lacking detail, and connections between these concepts are underdeveloped.  

Below Expectations - Attempts to integrate the reading by Wagner and examine the challenges involved in studying religion in American society. The analysis is lacking significant detail and the connections drawn between concepts are significantly underdeveloped. 

Non-Performance - The integration of the readings by Wagner is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - States ethical issues when presented in a complex, ambiguous context and recognizes interrelationships among the various issues.

Proficient - States ethical issues when they are presented in an ambiguous context or recognizes cross-relationships among the issues.

Basic - States basic and apparent ethical issues and understands the complexities or interrelationships among the issues.

Below Expectations - States apparent ethical issues but fails to recognize their complexity or interrelationships.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Develops a logical, consistent plan to solve a problem. Identifies consequences of the solution and clearly communicates the reason for choosing the solution.

Proficient - Carefully chooses among alternatives and develops a logical, consistent approach to problem solving.

Basic - Takes into account and eliminates less acceptable approaches to problem solving.

Below Expectations - Takes into account a single approach and uses the approach to problem solve.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Displays meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains no errors and is very easy to understand.

Proficient - Displays comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains only a few minor errors and is mostly easy to understand.

Basic - Displays basic comprehension of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains a few errors which may slightly distract the reader.

Below Expectations - Fails to display basic comprehension of syntax or mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains major errors which distract the reader.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Accurately uses APA formatting consistently throughout the paper, title page, and reference page.

Proficient - Exhibits APA formatting throughout the paper. However, layout contains a few minor errors. 

Basic - Exhibits limited knowledge of APA formatting throughout the paper. However, layout does not meet all APA requirements. 

Below Expectations - Fails to exhibit basic knowledge of APA formatting. There are frequent errors, making the layout difficult to distinguish as APA.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - The length of the paper is equivalent to the required number of correctly formatted pages. 

Proficient - The length of the paper is nearly equivalent to the required number of correctly formatted pages. 

Basic - The length of the paper is equivalent to at least three quarters of the required number of correctly formatted pages.

Below Expectations - The length of the paper is equivalent to at least one half of the required number of correctly formatted pages.   

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Uses more than the required number of scholarly sources, providing compelling evidence to support ideas. All sources on the reference page are used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

Proficient - Uses the required number of scholarly sources to support ideas. All sources on the reference page are used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

Basic - Uses less than the required number of sources to support ideas. Some sources may not be scholarly. Most sources on the reference page are used within the body of the assignment. Citations may not be formatted correctly.

Below Expectations - Uses an inadequate number of sources that provide little or no support for ideas. Sources used may not be scholarly. Most sources on the reference page are not used within the body of the assignment. Citations are not formatted correctly.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.