Do You Rubric?

Several years ago, when my older daughter was in junior high school, she came home complaining about a project for one of her classes. I asked her what was it about and of course she rolled her eyes and said, “I don’t know Mom. We haven’t gotten the rubrics yet!” And with that she stomped off. Other than that being an example of typical junior high behavior, the word that caught my attention was “rubrics” (and the fact that she used that big of a word!). Our colleagues in the K-12 world have been using rubrics for a long time but it hasn’t really caught on in higher ed.

When grading assignments or other assessments, how do you grade? Do you grade on feeling —"I know this work is good"? Or do you have a set of criteria by which you evaluate the student’s work?

Rubrics are statements which define the requirements for the learning activity, criteria for evaluating the learning activity, and degree of quality for each criterion. While this seems like a daunting task for faculty, rubrics are not that difficult to write. They do take some time to determine the evaluation criteria (or elements) and the quality levels of each criteria.

Writing a rubric:

1. First, determine what is important in the learning activity. What will be assessed?
2. Identify these elements or criteria for evaluation.
3. What are the levels of quality for each element? How many levels will be needed?
4. Determine the characteristics for attaining each element. What are the descriptors of quality?
5. Assign point values to each element and its degree of quality.

There are advantages to using rubrics when grading assignments.

• Rubrics clearly define the activity and how it will be assessed.
• Rubrics provide a method for meaningful feedback to the student for improvement.
• All assignments evaluated against the same criteria.

Rubrics are also useful for the student by clearly defining the activity and what is needed to be successful. This helps students take control of their own learning and performance in class.
Rubrics can be used as a guide while completing the learning activity and as a self-assessment tool prior to submitting the assignment for grading.

Rubrics can be in any format that works for you and your students. Some faculty like a grid-like format, others like a narrative format. In addition, there are several online rubric-generators that prompt you through the creation process.

Rubric Design Studio

Rubric Builder

Rubistar
Advantages of Rubrics
List of Rubrics Builders

Next post, how to grade with a rubric.