Article Critique Guidelines and Rubric

Overview
Articles are written to inform, misinform, influence, or misdirect, among other reasons.  Sometimes they serve as nothing more than a vehicle for an author to achieve fame, notoriety, and wealth. You should never take at face value the elements of any article you read, but you should be able to:

•    Differentiate between fact and opinion
•    Recognize and evaluate author bias and rhetoric
•    Determine cause-and-effect relationships
•    Determine accuracy and completeness of information presented
•    Recognize logical fallacies and faulty reasoning
•    Compare and contrast information and points of view
•    Develop inferential skills
•    Make judgments and draw logical conclusions

When writing an article critique, you will need to summarize, evaluate, and offer critical comment on the ideas and information that the author(s) presents in the article.
In your paper, cite any and all information taken from the article or any other references used. Your goal should be to read and understand the article, analyze the findings or arguments, and evaluate and comment on the article.

APA Reference for the given article:

Steinberg, L. (2007). Risk Taking in Adolescence: New Perspectives From Brain and Behavioral Science. Current Directions In     Psychological Science (Wiley-Blackwell), 16(2), 55-59. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00475.x

Student book: (Chapter 6 & 7)
Educational Psychology
Woolfolk, Anita
Prentice Hall
12th Edition
2013
9780132613163

Reading the Article

•    Allow enough time to understand it.
•    Read the article without taking notes to gain an overall picture of its main idea.
•    Read the article again analytically highlighting important ideas and making brief notes of the main ideas and main topic.

Main Elements

Be sure to address the following within your article critique:

•    What is the issue that the article is specifically addressing? Is this a significant problem or issue related to the concepts and theory in this course? Why or why not?
•    What references did the author use in this article?
•    Did the article contain research? What data was used? What instruments, if any, were used to collect data?
•    What were some of the conclusions, if any, to the research in this article?
•    Was the article reliable and valid? Explain.
•    Was this article well written? Thoughtful and reflective?
•    What were the limitations in this article? Any variables?
•    Any other thoughts, comments?

Rubric
Requirements of submission:  Written components of projects must follow these formatting guidelines when applicable: double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and discipline-appropriate citations. Page length should be 3 pages, not including cover page and resources.

Critical Elements    Exemplary    Proficient    Needs Improvement    Not Evident    Value
Main Elements    Includes almost all of the main elements and requirements and cites multiple examples to illustrate each element
(23-25)    Includes most of the main elements and requirements and cites many examples to illustrate each element
(20-22)    Includes some of the main elements and requirements

(18-19)    Does not include any of the main elements and requirements

(0-17)    25
Quality of Article Critique
Provides an in-depth critique of the main elements; lists and explains examples of bias or faulty reasoning found in the article
(23-25)    Critiques the main elements; lists and explains any examples of bias or faulty reasoning found in the article
(20-22)    Attempts to critique the main elements and list examples of bias or faulty reasoning found in the article
(18-19)    Fails to critique the main elements, does not include any examples of bias or faulty reasoning found in the article
(0-17)    25
Inquiry and Analysis
Explores multiple issues through extensive collection and in-depth analysis of evidence to make informed conclusions
(14-15)    Explores some issues through collection and in-depth analysis of evidence to make informed conclusions

(12-13)    Explores minimal issues through collection and analysis of evidence to make informed conclusions

(11)    Does not explore issues through collection and analysis of evidence and does not make informed conclusions
(0-10)    15
Integration and Application    All of the course concepts are correctly applied
(9-10)    Most of the course concepts are correctly applied
(8)    Some of the course concepts are correctly applied
(7)    Does not correctly apply any of the course concepts
(0-6)    10
Research     Incorporates many scholarly resources effectively that reflect depth and breadth of research
(14-15)    Incorporates some scholarly resources effectively that reflect depth and breadth of research

(12-13)    Incorporates very few scholarly resources that reflect depth and breadth of research
(11)    Does not incorporate scholarly resources that reflect depth and breadth of research

(0-10)    15
Writing
(Mechanics/Citations)    No errors related to organization, grammar and style, and citations
(9-10)    Minor errors related to organization, grammar and style, and citations
(8)    Some errors related to organization, grammar and style, and citations
(7)    Major errors related to organization, grammar and style, and citations
(0-6)    10
Earned Total:
Comments:    100%