1. Judging chocolate cookies [1]
2. Judging group work [2]
2.1 Features of a good rubric
- Clearly worded and easy to understand from both a student and staff perspective
- Sufficiently concise to not be overwhelming to students and staff
- Drafted from the learning outcomes set
- Accurately represents the content delivered to students
- Measures what it is intended to measure: validity
- Produces stable and consistent results every time it is used: reliability
2.2 What goes into a rubric?
Rubrics are presented in a table format and usually include:
- A description of the task that is being evaluated
- The criteria (row headings) being evaluated
- A rating scale (column headings) describing levels of quality from excellent to poor
- A description of each level of performance for each criterion (within each box of the table)
3. Judging writing [3]
There are two main types of rubrics, Analytic and Holistic.
Analytic Grading Rubrics
- Analytic rubrics have different levels of achievement of performance criteria.
- Each level for each criterion has a precise descriptor of what students should demonstrate that they know and can do, in as observable and measurable terms as possible.
- The criteria are linked to outcomes for project/course.
Holistic Grading Rubrics
Holistic rubrics either put all the criteria descriptions together in one box for each performance level, as illustrated below or just list the criteria, each with a rating scale of, say, 1 to 4.
Tips on Using Rubrics Effectively
- Develop a different rubric for each assignment. Although this takes time in the beginning, you’ll find that rubrics can be changed slightly or reused later.
- Give students a copy of the rubric when you assign the performance task. Online, you can create the rubric in Desire2Learn and make it visible to students in the assignment description.
- Rubrics need to be discussed with students to create a common understanding of expectations.
- For paper submission, require students to attach the rubric to the assignment when they hand it in. Online you will use the Desire2Learn rubric to mark each assignment by clicking performance levels.
- When you mark the assignment, circle or highlight the achieved level of performance for each criterion. This happens online with a simple mouse click.
- Include any additional comments that do not fit within the rubric’s criteria. Online you can type these into a text field available for that purpose.
- Decide upon a final grade for the assignment based on the rubric. Online, this mark is generated automatically by the system, but you can change it if you wish.
- Return the rubric with the assignment. This happens automatically online in Desire2Learn.
References
1. The Advantages of Rubrics: Part One in a Five-Part Series, https://www.teachervision.com/advantages-rubrics-part-one-five-part-series Accessed date: 07th Jun 2019.2. Grading Made Easy: Digital Tools to Create Rubrics, https://www.profweb.ca/en/publications/articles/grading-made-easy-digital-tools-to-create-rubrics, Accessed date: 07th Jun 2019
3. Grading Rubrics: Set Expectations, Make Feedback Delivery More Efficient, http://unbtls.ca/teachingtips/gradingrubrics.html, Accessed date: 07th Jun 2019.
