Communication Technology Theory
Reading Response Guidelines
You must turn in at least eight (8) reading responses throughout the semester. There are ten
(10) opportunities to do so.
Your reading responses will be graded on a check (100%), minus (75%), or 0% scale. Do not be
discouraged if your response does not get a check. There are plenty of opportunities to improve
your responses.
A response that gets a check (100%) will meet the following criteria:
1. The response provides a brief summary of at least one of the readings from that week.
2. The response then goes on to provide analysis of that reading by effectively doing one
or more of the following:
a. Provide an in-depth example on how the reading relates to something in your
life or someone you know and analyze how the reading is accurate or not in
illuminating that life experience.
b. Find a real example from news media or other resource and analyze how the
reading illuminates that example or not. Explain in-depth how this example
from the real world is a good example of the concepts you learned about in the
reading.
c. Compare that reading to other readings from class, either within that week or
outside of that week. Do not just summarize the other readings, but rather
analyze the pros, cons, similarities, differences, and other aspects of the pieces.
Which is more effective? Do they look at the same phenomenon in different
ways? Make sure if you do this, the readings make sense to compare to one
another.
d. If the reading is a study, discuss the study’s strengths and weaknesses, and how
you might improve the study or add on to the study. For example, if the study is
older, how would you update it? Or if the study looks at one type of technology
or context, how would you use the theories or concepts to examine another
technology or context?
e. If the reading is not a study (it is a chapter from a book or other type of
reading), then explain how a study might be conducted to examine the
concepts or phenomena that is discussed. What contexts would you want to
look at? What methodologies would you use? How would you examine the
theories or concepts of interest?
3. The response is thoughtful, creative, and interesting. There is a high level of critical
thinking.
4. The response is free from typos, spelling errors, grammatical errors. It has been
proofread thoroughly.
5. The response is well organized.
6. The response is well written (concise, nicely written sentences, good vocabulary, does
not repeat the same points, etc.).
7. The response has enough content (it is at least two (2) pages, double-spaced; no excess
headers/footers/margins – one inch on all sides; the heading with name/date is not
more than 3 double-spaced lines).
A response that gets a minus (75%) will be deficient in one or more of the “check” response
criteria, but still meets the following criteria:
1. The response briefly summarizes at least one of the readings from that week.
2. The response attempts to do some analysis in the categories listed above. The response
is not just a summary.
3. The response shows critical thinking skills.
4. The response does not have typos to the point where it is unreadable or difficult to
understand. It has been proofread and only contains a few minor errors that do not
impact the readability.
5. The response is organized well enough so that it does not jump around or lose focus.
6. The response is written in a manner where it is easy to understand. The instructor does
not have to read the same sentence over and over again to understand the meaning.
7. The response is at least one (1) full page double-spaced without excess
headers/footers/margins as above.
A response that gets a zero (0%) will have deficiencies in one or more of the “minus” response
criteria, OR will not be turned in.
To be clear, responses that only summarize and do not analyze will get a zero. A response that
is shorter than one full page will also get a zero.
Note on References: If you use outside materials, please cite those materials in-text (listing the
last name of the author and year in parentheses after the sentence) and have a reference list at
the end of your essay (in MLA or APA format). Please use quotation marks and in-text citations
if you directly quote any resource, whether it is the reading itself or outside materials. Any
response that does not cite their references will receive a zero and, if deemed a plagiarism
violation, will be reported for violating the UA Code of Academic Integrity.
If you have questions about how to reference your resources completely and accurately, please
contact me.