Critical Readings A, B, C

approved 5/6/04

Critical Readings A, B, C

Level III

RATIONALE: Based on the reading competence demonstrated at Levels I and II (for example, in the competencies Reading Life Histories and Critical Inquiry at Level I or Historical Change in the U.S. at Level II) and based on the substantive knowledge gained from demonstrating other competencies at these levels, students will be able through this competency to read in some depth and with some breadth in the literatures that will help further their education as workers, citizens, and life-long learners. Readings offered at this level will allow students to explore problems and issues of concern to them and of use in their major fields of study. The readings and analysis will enable students to see how scholars and writers use various styles of presentation and methods of analysis to illuminate important human problems and issues. In this competency, students will be asked to identify and read selected works of literature carefully and critically in order to explore questions that they develop and to seek applications to the problems of life, work, and social change. If a student includes some readings from work on another competency, the focus should be on responding to a set of questions different from those for the other competency.

COMPETENCY: Can read and critically evaluate a defined body of literature within an area of study.

CRITERIA:

1. Choose, with approval by an evaluator, an area of study and a defined body of literature within that area.

2. Describe the significance to you of the area of interest you have chosen.

3. Identify, describe, and compare main points and conclusions contained in the readings.

4. Write a paper that makes use of all the readings in an interrelated way and applies a critical perspective to them, based on questions that you and the evaluator have developed as the readings have progressed.

5. Provide a self-assessment of the reading experience, and how your ideas have changed and/or strengthened as a result.

PORTFOLIO LINKS: You are expected to use the Writing Portfolio criteria and standards as guidelines for the written products required by this competency.

Papers written for this competency may be considered for submission to the Writing Portfolio.

STANDARDS:

1. For Criterion 1, Students may negotiate with evaluators to develop their own list. Students may receive from evaluators and instructors a list of readings of sufficient breadth and depth to allow them to read and evaluate a set of major written works in an area of study. These lists may be course syllabi or lists developed by evaluators available for independent or directed study. Students may request adjustments to the list based on their own interests. Works chosen may serve as background readings to deepen and broaden students' understanding of the broad context in which capstone projects and majors exist. The amount of reading required will vary with its degree of difficulty.

2. For Criterion 2, the description should if possible connect the inquiry to other competencies or work that the student is engaged in. Criterion 2 may be demonstrated through a short paper or substantial discussion.

3. For Criterion 3, it will be important to show an overall understanding of the conclusions reached by each of the authors.

4. For Criterion 4, the paper must use all of the readings, and must interrelate them, rather than discussing each of them in a separate section. It must employ a critical perspective rather than merely summarizing the readings. The precise contours of the paper may well vary depending on the nature of the readings and the questions that are developed as the readings have progressed.

5. For Criterion 5, the self-assessment should be based on notes, reading logs and reports, and/or discussions in class or with evaluator, and evaluator comments. This self-assessment should include your assessment of the experience of reading, as well as an assessment of the knowledge and insight gained as a result, and the applicability of the knowledge to future work inside and outside the university

EXAMPLES OF DEMONSTRATION:

Prior Learning: A student who is an avid reader uses her prior reading of great women English novelists, including Jane Austen, George Eliot, the Bronte sisters, and Virginia Woolf, to develop a presentation evaluating their work on the basis of questions about their contributions to our understanding of women's issues of equality.

Independent Study: Building on the learning gained from demonstrating the Historical Change in the U.S competency, a student in Labor Studies pursues reading in key works produced by labor historians; or a Criminal Justice student pursues reading in key works on the history of crime and punishment or law enforcement; or a Community Planning student pursues reading in key works on urban history.

Course: A student takes a CPCS course addressing this competency, or takes a course elsewhere in UMass Boston that involves similar skills.

Field Project: A student involved in a project addressing the Public and Community Action III competency intends to work with one of the immigrant and refugee advocacy groups in the area, and decides to read a broad range of books about the experience of many immigrants, past and present, in adjusting to U.S. urban life and in advocating for the group's legal rights.