Guidelines for the first technical report assignment
Provides a clear and practical assessment of the problem, challenge, or opportunity at hand.
Provides solid evidence in support of that assessment, and presents that evidence effectively and responsibly. (Things to avoid here might include using evidence that is irrelevant, inaccurate, fraudulent, or misrepresented.)
Provides an effective and responsible analysis of the evidence presented in the report, demonstrating how that evidence supports the report’s principal conclusions and recommendations. (For the most part, evidence doesn’t simply speak for itself. You need to explain what you think it shows and explain why and how you think it shows it.)
Up to this point, I’ve mainly been talking about the substance of your argument. Here are some of the things to focus on:
How effective is the overall structure and organization of your work?
How effectively do you construct and connect individual paragraphs?
How effectively do you construct and connect individual sentences?
Do you present your evidence clearly and cite it appropriately?
In general, do you write in a clear and engaging way, and do you take care of the “little things” that could distract your reader or take away from the effectiveness of your argument? (For example, spelling and grammatical errors.)
It’s important to note that I apply these standards somewhat differently in different contexts.