Academic Programs – Bren Communications Center All incoming MESM students also are required to take a writing assessment and participate in an evaluation of writing assessments. The writing assessment and evaluation process are designed to offer a nurturing environment for students to learn and practice principles of excellent writing. You must cultivate strong writing and other communication skills to excel in your graduate studies and future professional endeavors. Employers consistently identify strong communication skills (both oral and written) as the most important factor that influences hiring and advancement of employees. Assessment Prompt - 2011 Timeline for Writing Assessment Monday, September 12. Introduction to the writing assessment. Students will review the rubric for evaluating the writing assessment so you can incorporate these principles into your own writing and you will be able to evaluate other students’ writing. You may take the writing assessment home and work on it during the week. Thursday, September 15 at 9 pm. Your writing sample is due! You will upload an electronic copy of your writing sample to a designated folder on the Bren drive by the due date. Friday, September 16. Evaluate writing samples. You will bring two hard copies of your writing sample to share with two other students and you will receive two writing samples from students. You will use the rubric to evaluate the writing samples and provide your evaluations to the instructor. Friday, September 23. The instructor will return the evaluations of your writing sample and share an overview of the writing assessments during a review session. Guidelines At the bottom of this page, you will find a listing of several reports by industry, US and international governments, non-governmental organizations, and peer-reviewed journal articles about biofuels. Carefully review 3-5 of these sources. While reading, pay particular attention to: (1) recent biofuels research and advancements, (2) the positive and negative aspects of biofuels relative to other energy supply options, (3) the changing role of government in response to biofuels development, and (4) implications for the environment, international collaboration, and the national/international economy and trade. Consider these topics from a global, rather than US-centric, perspective. You do not need look up any other sources to accomplish this exercise, and you do not need to have any specific expertise in the subject. Instead, we will be assessing your writing for general organization, flow, and clarity, not disciplinary knowledge. Instructions You are an advisor to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chu. Write a policy brief (500 – 750 words) with recommendations on how best to proceed with biofuels development in the United States. Do not exceed 750 words. Remember to consider a global perspective when recommending domestic policy. Use information from your readings to support your claims. The assessment is meant to provide you information and feedback on your writing abilities, not to serve as a way for us to judge or evaluate you. As such, you should not work in consultation with, or seek assistance of any form from, anyone else. In order to ascertain that you have completed the assessment with the utmost academic integrity, we ask that you please paste the following statement in the body of the email when you send your assessment: “I certify that all work contained in this writing assessment is my own.” What is a policy brief? The policy brief is a document that outlines the rationale for choosing a particular policy alternative or course of action in a current policy debate. The brief may provide a targeted discussion of the current alternatives without arguing for a particular one. Alternatively, the brief may focus directly on providing an argument for the adoption of a particular alternative. In either case, the purpose of the policy brief is to convince the target audience of the need to adopt the preferred alternative or course of action outlined and therefore, serve as an impetus for action. An effective policy brief should be: focused, professional, evidence-based, and succinct. For more information on how to compose a policy brief, refer to: You should provide a well-structured, well-supported document. You may include direct quotes in your summary to support your statements and follow APA/MLA guidelines for citation formatting. (Note: The request for citations includes both in-text quotes from your article and a "References" page.) Visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab for APA and MLA citation tips. Tips for putting together a great writing sample: * Avoid the passive voice whenever possible. Stronger verbs make for stronger writing. For example, instead of saying "The atmospheric data was analyzed by Bren students," say "Bren students analyzed the atmospheric data." * Be concise. Short, clear sentences are easier to follow than long, complicated ones. * Allow time to proofread. Even the best writers usually don't get it right in their first draft. * Stick to the point. Make sure your paper is cohesive. In other words: (1) introduce the paper's main point in the first paragraph, (2) make sure every paragraph that follows supports this point, (3) pick one topic for each paragraph and stick to it. If you feel the need to introduce a new subject, start a new paragraph. * Think about flow. Perfect paragraphs do not always equal a strong paper. Improve readability by using transition words and sentences to connect each paragraph to the one before and the one after. Source Materials Reminder: You only need to select 3-5 sources to prepare for the assessment. Issue Brief: economic impacts of ethanol production. A publication by Ethanol Across America. June 2006. 12 pp World Development Report 2008. Biofuels: The promise and the risks. 2 pp. EU and US policies on biofuels: Potential impacts on developing countries. The German Marshall Fund. April 2007. 32 pp. IEA Bioenergy Report. Potential contribution of bioenergy to the world’s future energy demand. September 2007. 12 pp. World Resources Institute Climate and Energy Policy Series: “Plants at the Pump: Reviewing Biofuels’ Impacts and Policy Recommendations" July 2008. 8 pp. Pimentel, David. Ethanol Fuels: Energy Balance, Economics, and Environmental Impacts are Negative. June 2003. Natural Resources Research. 12(2): 127-134.
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