Social Determinants of Health
Critical Thought Paper General Instructions and Formatting Specifications

All papers must be submitted on Blackboard (please do not submit your papers via email) by 11:59pm on the due dates specified below:
the specific thing to be chosen is from one of these topics
(”Introduction to the Social Determinants of Health: Equity, Inequality, and Disparities in Health”
”Social Determinants of Health across the Life-Course”
”Education as a Social Determinant of Health”)

All papers are to be using the following formatting criteria:
Font = Times New Roman, Courier New, or Arial; 12 point font
Spacing = Double-spaced
Margins = 1-inch margins on all sides

Additionally, to ensure that I will be able to open/read the papers, please save document as a Microsoft Word file (or as a PDF for those using a Mac or Google Chromebook) and name the file as follows: Last name, First name CT Paper 1 (e.g., Hayman, Lenwood CT Paper 1).

***NOTE: ALL MATERIALS WRITTEN IN THIS CLASS NEED TO BE GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT (PROOF-READ FOR ERRORS IN SPELLING AND GRAMMAR) AND REFLECT TERMINOLOGY RELEVANT TO THIS COURSE. AS SUCH, PLEASE AVOID USING SLANG AND REFRAIN FROM WRITING YOUR ESSAYS IN CONVERSATIONAL FORM.

When saving your papers to be submitted, make sure to do the following:
1) Save as a Microsoft Word file (or as a PDF for those using a Mac or Google Chromebook)
2) Name the file as follows: Last name, First name CT Paper 1 (e.g., Hayman, Lenwood CT Paper 1)

GRADING “RUBRIC”
The primary intention for these papers is to help you organize your thoughts/arguments in a clear and presentable fashion on a topic of your choosing from the readings/lectures/discussions. The general expectation for this paper is that you will develop a thesis statement (or a general statement that establishes your reason for writing your paper), and use information from the readings AND from the lecture/class discussion content (including videos) to support your statement. For example, “The purpose of this essay is to establish…” You can also incorporate evidence/support from the readings and lectures/discussion from the previous weeks, as you see fit, as all of the social determinants are inter-related. An immediate secondary intention of this paper is that you submit a finished product free from spelling and grammatical errors.

I will grade this paper exactly as the rubric below indicates. Additionally, to ensure my timely reading and grading of the papers, I am only going to read the first 3 pages of the body of the paper. In other words, not including the cover page, you will be graded based on the content on pages 2-4 of your paper. Anything after this will not be read. Again, for those of you using Macs or Google Chromebooks, you will need to save your papers as PDFs (or as a Microsoft Word File) so that I can open them. Name the file as follows: “Last name, First name CT Paper 1” (e.g., “Hayman, Lenwood CT Paper 1). Your papers will be evaluated strictly based on the following rubric:

 
Point Breakdown of Critical Thought Papers

Total Score (50 points max)

Formatting (2.5 points max)
Title Page (Including name, paper topic, and class) (0.5 points)
1 Inch margins (0.5 points)
Page Numbers (0.5 points)
Double-spaced (0.5 points)
Appropriate font (Times New Roman or Courier New) (0.5 points)

Spelling & Grammar (10 points max): 1 point subtracted for each error

Explicitly stated thesis statement (2.5 points max)
0 points = Intended direction of paper not clearly stated
1.5 points = Lacking clarity of intended direction
2.5 points = Absolute clarity of intended direction expressed

Provided adequate support of thesis statement/paper topic (35 points max)
15 points = unsatisfactory amount of detail provided; argument not well-established/supported
20 points = lacking satisfactory detail
25 points = satisfactory
30 points = strong
35 points = outstanding (cited specific quotes from at least 2 of the readings AND from evidence presented in the lecture, including videos)