Ten Questions for James Watt: How the Steam Engine Changed Industry

Grade 9 · Maximum total: 16 points

Score the student’s questions, follow-ups, and evidence checks—not the AI persona’s answers. Choose one listed score per criterion.

1. Ten Questions with Historical Depth

• Exemplary — 4 points: Exactly ten questions probe the condenser, engine operation, adoption, benefits, and difficulties.
• Proficient — 3 points: Exactly ten questions address operation, adoption, and impacts, but lack depth.
• Developing — 2 points: Question count differs from ten, or a major topic is missing.
• Beginning — 0 points: Questions barely address Watt’s engine or industrialization.

2. Live Interview Moves

• Exemplary — 4 points: Sustains many turns, follows recent answers, and verifies or respectfully challenges claims.
• Proficient — 3 points: Develops several answer-based follow-ups and checks at least one claim.
• Developing — 2 points: Uses multiple turns but rarely builds on answers or checks claims.
• Beginning — 0 points: Pastes a question list without engaging the persona’s answers.

3. Workshop Source Reasoning

• Exemplary — 4 points: Questions the cylinder fragment’s value and worker-life limits; supports an industrialization conclusion.
• Proficient — 3 points: Identifies the fragment’s limits and supports a broad industrialization conclusion.
• Developing — 2 points: Mentions the fragment without explaining its limits or supporting a conclusion.
• Beginning — 0 points: Does not use the cylinder fragment in the interview.

4. Perspective and Corroboration

• Exemplary — 4 points: Separates Watt’s viewpoint from evidence and probes contrasting experiences with corroboration.
• Proficient — 3 points: Distinguishes Watt’s viewpoint and seeks evidence for a contrasting experience.
• Developing — 2 points: Notes possible bias but does not seek supporting evidence.
• Beginning — 0 points: Treats Watt’s claims as established facts without question.