Nicole, I do like the way you put this " takes the subjectivity out of grading". I tend to e-mail my learners the required assignments and rubrics the week-end before the onset of a unit. This helps me give the 'early bird' a leg up while highlighting my expectations and measurement guidelines.
Samia
I use the rubric for a number of reasons:
1. acts as a guide for students in terms of required focus/outline and possible subheading usage
2. transparency in grading
3. Offers consistency in assessing deliverables
Samia
Heather,
Yes, the rubrics help the students in a major way, but it's so nice that they help instructors too. Thanks for your comments.
Rubrics allow students to understand exactly what I am looking for as an instructor. A rubric also allows me to grade objectively, and to make my grading a little bit easier. Students that understand and are able to follow a rubric can check and make sure their assignments have everything in it that the rubric states is needed for a passing grade.
Heather
Laura,
Yes and the neat thing is that rubrics help the instructors and the students. We all understand better. Nice job.
A rubric is a very useful tool for transparency of expectations regarding a particular assignment and helps the instructor to grade consistently across multiple assignments. It also helps to communicate to students the "depth" of a particular response expected (based on the percentage of an assignment that a question reflects) and helps the instructor manage her/his time by preventing numerous duplicate questions about what is expected within a particular assignment.
Ben,
Right - it's a guide for the instructor and students. But, the rubric (and the criteria you set) should alleviate opinion. You haven't see a good rubric if you're still concerned about that.
Richard,
The written assignment directives should lead to students achieving the learning outcomes which is listed on the rubric and the rubric criteria should provide the clarity so students do not misinterpret anything. They all work together.
Rob,
Funny you should bring up the idea of "customer" and "student" because not long ago several of us had a conversation about who is the customer, and it was stated that the community/world is the customer and the student is our product. Fun to think about.
Madhuchanda,
Right - it helps both instructors and students. What a wonderful thing. Thanks for your input.
lindsey,
Excellent. You note that rubrics are for students and instructors. You are right on target. How wonderful it is to find one tool that helps everyone.
Rubrics help make grading evaluation equal for all students subject to them, however online instruction can pose some grey areas: for example a student may misinterpret assignment instructions based upon the online lecture/discussion. The only "anchor" point is the written assignment directives.
Online is a marvelous forum for teaching but there are some areas that require additional clarification, in my opinion.
I think this comes back to expecations: in all levels of service, the customer is most satisfied if the expecation is first established and then met or exceeded. If we extend the metaphor of "customer" to "student", it follows that rubrics can serve as a way to clearly establish the expecations for a deliverable. If the student knows what is expected of them, they are able to focus on the delivery. That said, the quality of the rubric is a huge determining factor of the outcome: a vaguely written rubric is at times worse than no rubric at all!
It enables the students to understand exactly what they will be graded on. The expectations are clear.
The instructor will always remain 'fair'.
Chanda Ghose
The role of a rubric, in my opinion, serves as a guide for a teacher that is not clear as to how to grade an assignment.
A rubric tells the students what you expect of them. It is then your job to grade according to the rubric---how many points for this, how many points for that.....
The problem with having a teacher use a rbric, though, is that it then becomes a matter of opinion. For example, the teacher gets to decide how many points he/she thinks a student deserves for content.
There is a right and a wrong way, for example, to write a research paper. If you incorporate a rubric, it gives the teacher the "OK" to insert his/her opinion into the grading.
I don't use rubrics.
I believe the use of a rubric is important in providing all of your students with a fair, consistent and well thought out grade. Plus it allows the instructor to provide exact feedback for areas of strength and improvement and showing the student why they received the grade that they did. I personally believe, providing a consistent grade to all my students at all times can be one of the more challenging areas of teaching. Therefore, a rubric alleviates this challenge.
Melissa,
Love the word "framework." Sometimes I think we should use a different word for students. Class assignment framework may be the right term to help students understand what the rubric is doing for them. Thanks!
MARIE,
Yes and keep in mind that the rubrics help both stuents and instructors. Students need to understand what is expected of them and instructors need to make sure the rubric clearly states that.
Thanks!
The role of a rubric is to provide students with a clear framework of criteria by which their work will be graded. Students should be able to use it as a tool of self assessment 9if it is given to them prior to submission, which I believe it should be). The rubric also provides instructors with more clear grading criteria. This can be useful in creating a more uniform experience for students if the same rubrics are used by different teachers teaching the same course. ~Melissa
The role of a rubric is communicating expectation for any given assignment by providing focused feedback on the work in progress and grading. I also think the rubric can be used to teach as well as evaluate. The rubric has the potential to help student develop an understanding on the quality of their own work.
Marie Osuna
