What else should students do and be graded on? A student profile?

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What assumptions are you making about web-based writing? How do you conceptualize web genres? What assumptions do you have about students' prior knowledge of writing online?

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I tried to use a more traditional rubric (and it did not work):
Criteria
______page length, 8-10 pages
______3 drafts
______Works Cited page in MLA style
______One authoritative web site at least
______One image (photo or graph or chart) at least
______One print source
_____ uses a clear approach and follows guidelines of that approach:
Investigative Position Paper Definition Policy Refutation
______ clear argument; central thesis
_______Thoughtfulness of your argument
_______Accuracy (citations, quotations, statement of ideas)
_______Inclusion of all important information to support the argument
_______meets criteria of the writing rubric
_______ sources: aim for 10. You have two types: primary and secondary. As for secondary: majority should be critical / authoritative. Show a variety.

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I just finished reading a chapter from Weiser's 2002 book, Moving Beyond Academic Discourse: Composition Studies and the Public Sphere. He's very interesting and makes some interesting points about the old model of "public writing"--sending in a letter to the editor. I particularly liked this passage:

There is one final assumption about public writing that I would like to address: that its only purpose is to sway public opinion and that it does not encompass actual decision making and action. Some instructors of public writing who employ newspapers as their primary avenue for such assignments seem to feel that students’ public writing can rarely lead to substantial changes in public policy and can at best only convince
others to “think differently.” ... This presumption is especially pernicious because it foreclosesreal results from student writing and often turns public writing assignments into pointless and futile exercises. While I’m not suggesting that public writing must always lead to decision making, I do believe that in certain circumstances it can...[P]ublic writing can form opinions and translate them into authoritative decisions, but only if we reconsider the presumption that public discourse is necessarily separated from legislative action. Students’ public writing can have significant, tangible, immediate results if it is directed toward publics where both debate and decision making are central goals. As facilitators of public writing, it is important that we help students locate strong publics where their voices can lead to action. Asking students to write in spheres discourse does not often lead to direct action, such as the local newspaper, is often pointless and futile. There are many arenas where student discourse can lead to palpable changes for them and others, and students may very well be members of these publics already. (110-111)

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What are the research studies on this topic? Are there good studies out there on good academic writing for a public audience online?

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You say "students will want to use existing habits used in MySpace or other arenas." This is an important point on several levels. In The teaching and learning of web genres in first-year composition," Edwards and McKee (2005) call this "insider knowledge...knowledge about how discourse works on the world Wide Web" (p. 206).

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