WRITTEN CRITIQUE OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

Written critique of ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY 

Rationale

The purpose of writing a critique of a current environmental policy is to develop your critical evaluation skills and civic engagement ability.

Assignment Description and Format

  1. Read the following policy proposal [Online] https://prod-environmental-registry.s3.amazonaws.com/2018-11/EnvironmentPlan.pdf

 

  1. Write a 2-3 page critique and commentary of the proposal. Please follow the guidelines, tips, and marking scheme for more guidance.  Submit your paper online via moodle.

Evaluation

 The writing assignment is worth 20% of your total mark.  For a full breakdown of the mark, see the attached marking scheme which will be used to score each person in the class.

Guidelines

 The critique should consist of three sections: i) Summary of main ideas; ii) Critique various sections ; and iii) Suggestions to ameliorate proposal.

  1. Summary: Summarize the main points of the proposal briefly. Describe how important this policy proposal is and what the potential impacts will be, in general. Highlight main ideas you found well done or highly flawed.
  2. Critique: You should include at least 3 specific issues in the critique. Please provide specifics. What is the issue with the various sections you have selected to critique? Use primary research, newspaper articles, trusted website sources, and cite them properly in text and in a reference section.
  • Suggestions: How can this proposal be ameliorated? What needs to happen to make sure it is successful at accomplishing its aims? What new questions have emerged? How might you do things differently? Please include specifics.

Tips

  • The most common mistake students make is to write a 2 page summary of the policy proposal. The summary should only be a small part of your paper, with critical thought and analysis being the majority of your paper.
  • Another common mistake is to not use any specifics. You should say a lot more than just “the methods used were flawed”. What specifically was flawed, and how does it affect the process?
  • Your assignment can be submitted (anonymously or not) to the ON government through this link. Please consider doing this to make your work have wider impact: https://ero.ontario.ca/user/login?action=comment&destination=/comment/reply/node/508/comment

 

Marking Scheme:

 

Summary (20%)

 

Clear and concise summary

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

 

 

Critique (40%)

 

Clear and synthetic critique of issues

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

 

 

Clear evidence used to support points

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

 

Suggestions (20%)

 

Clear reasoning used to outline suggestions

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

 

Creative, thoughtful, relevant, and feasible suggestions

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

 

Grammar and style  (20 %)

Appropriate use of grammar and no spelling mistakes

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10

 

Style of critique

1              2              3              4              5              6              7              8              9              10