For students who struggle to know when they are "done" with an assignment or paper, having a final checklist can be helpful. If you are one of these students, here are a few minor things you can do to make sure you're getting full credit on class essays /papers and that you are producing your best work. Below, I present to you a pre-submission check list. If you do all of these things before submitting an assignment, you should be setting yourself up for success.
Pre-Submission Checklist:
Substance
[] Did I utilize all required class materials? If I was still not confident about the subject, did I use any supplementary materials provided?
[] Did I actually clearly address all questions asked in the prompt?
[] Did I understand the purpose of the writing assignment and write something insightful and interesting in response? Would I want to read my own work?
[] Does my paper flow in a logical and organized manner?
Sources:
[] Did I appropriately cite (in-text) class resources in my response?
[] If I used outside sources: were they appropriate academic sources, and did I appropriately cite them (both in-text and works cited)?
[] Did I make any unfounded claims without backing them up? If so, consider removing the claim or looking for evidence.
Proofreading:
[] Have I checked my grammar, spelling, and punctuation?
[] Check for consistency. For example, am I using the same tense (present / past) throughout?
[] Is my writing concise? Remove unnecessary words meant to impress people or lengthen my word count (these don't fool the professor).
[] Did I remember to include the word count or page numbers, if required?
[] Did I put my name, and any other required heading information, on this assignment
For Online Discussion:
[] If this is a discussion board posting, was my response to a fellow classmate kind, clear, and a good-faith response to their posting?
[] Did I engage my classmates in a way that I would want to be engaged with?
For a research paper:
[] Do I clearly state the purpose of the paper? Do I explicitly state the motivating research question?
[] Do I provide a roadmap of what is to come in the paper?
[] Do I have at least one sentence that explains why anyone cares about this research?
[] Have I engaged with the research on the subject? (In other words, I read a variety of research, understand it, and know where I fit in to it).
[] Did I clearly explain how I conducted my research?
[] Do I summarize main points for the reader?
[] Does my conclusion clearly state what I set out to do and what I found?
Pre-Submission Checklist:
Substance
[] Did I utilize all required class materials? If I was still not confident about the subject, did I use any supplementary materials provided?
[] Did I actually clearly address all questions asked in the prompt?
[] Did I understand the purpose of the writing assignment and write something insightful and interesting in response? Would I want to read my own work?
[] Does my paper flow in a logical and organized manner?
Sources:
[] Did I appropriately cite (in-text) class resources in my response?
[] If I used outside sources: were they appropriate academic sources, and did I appropriately cite them (both in-text and works cited)?
[] Did I make any unfounded claims without backing them up? If so, consider removing the claim or looking for evidence.
Proofreading:
[] Have I checked my grammar, spelling, and punctuation?
[] Check for consistency. For example, am I using the same tense (present / past) throughout?
[] Is my writing concise? Remove unnecessary words meant to impress people or lengthen my word count (these don't fool the professor).
[] Did I remember to include the word count or page numbers, if required?
[] Did I put my name, and any other required heading information, on this assignment
For Online Discussion:
[] If this is a discussion board posting, was my response to a fellow classmate kind, clear, and a good-faith response to their posting?
[] Did I engage my classmates in a way that I would want to be engaged with?
For a research paper:
[] Do I clearly state the purpose of the paper? Do I explicitly state the motivating research question?
[] Do I provide a roadmap of what is to come in the paper?
[] Do I have at least one sentence that explains why anyone cares about this research?
[] Have I engaged with the research on the subject? (In other words, I read a variety of research, understand it, and know where I fit in to it).
[] Did I clearly explain how I conducted my research?
[] Do I summarize main points for the reader?
[] Does my conclusion clearly state what I set out to do and what I found?
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