John and Trina,
Thanks for continuing the conversation. And, the sandwich methods of feedback with positive and constructive feedback is essential as well. Thanks for your input.
Trina, students will definitely be put more at ease when they recognize what is stated in a detailed rubric before they begin an assignment. When instructors provide feedback or assess students' work, it is very important to praise a student before we provide any constructive criticism while following the guidelines set forth in a rubric.
Instructors and students both need rubrics. Instructors must have guidelines to follow in grading or evaluating student assignments or projects in order to be fair and consistent. Students need rubrics so they can understand exactly what is expected of them when completing assignments or projects.
Anthony,
Rubrics and big expectations have their place in education. When the have good criteria developed and the students understand the expectations, it is a good match. However, as we have noted many times in these forums, the content plays a key role in whether rubrics may be pertinent. For example, math is right/wrong unlike deciphering a case problem which has no right answer but students must defend their answer. Thanks for your input.
Dr. Crews,
I read through most of the postings and responses in this forum and had a strange sense of “..are we just dealing with more educational gobbledygook..†? It seems to me that a “Rubric†is just a fancy word for clearly establishing what the grading criteria of assignments are and that these have been used for years under other names (or should have been used!).
I have been teaching advanced mathematics online for over 7 years as a continuation of managing projects in both the aircraft industry and at nuclear plants worldwide. It seems to me that a lot of “educational theory†has just become a subject in its own right. I strongly adhere to the comments of David McCullough that the primary requirement of a good teacher is that he/she be an expert in the field. Good communication and the motivation to students flows naturally from this.
The Role of Rubrics is nothing more than establishing the Grading Criteria which are being used in the different kinds of assignments and if stated clearly can benefit both the student and the instructor. A mathematics assignment can be quite clearly graded. For example, a submitted paper must show 1) the correct answer, and 2) the key work steps that led to it. The instructor should make clear how many points are given to each part.
For a discussion board assignment in mathematics, the criteria are similar. A problem is posed in words and requires some searching on the internet by the student to get the background of the assignment and to determine what is essential to know or not. Again the criteria is clear and can be given simply as 80% to content, 10% to interaction with other students, and 10% to references. It is simple to present these criteria to students and grade according to it.
I have seen Instructors who try to grade to a rigorous rubric and can’t see the forest for the trees. One example in mathematics was an instructor who subtracted one point for each misspelled word in an assignment where the entire assignment of solving a system of equations was totally misunderstood. This adherence to a rubric makes no sense.
All in all, I see the Role of Rubrics being very different depending on the subject matter and the grade level of the course. A master’s degree course in English composition is very different from an entry level associate degree course in basic algebra.
Unfortunately, I did not see this kind of distinction discussed in the postings..!!.. but maybe I missed something!
Just my thoughts…
Anthony Ganz
Russell,
Your posting is right on target. You describe the use of rubrics well and how it impacts students and instructors. Thanks for your input.
Camila,
Yes, I like the word equitable. It's describes rubrics very well. Thanks for your input.
Russell and David,
Thanks for your input on rubrics. I try to incorporate projects in which the student can choose methods of completion. For example, I may give an assignment and the students need to complete three of the following for the project: video, PowerPoint, concept map, written paper, oral presentation. That gives them the opportunity to work off their strenghts and learning styles. Hope this helps.
Hello David,
I agree that communication is the key to any well-designed rubric. Have you found in your experience that most rubrics meet comprehension standards that can easily include the different types of student leaners currently enrolled?
Russell
I agree the rubric helps the instructor and the student. It makes the learning process more transparent. The rubric help to treat students more equitably because it criteria and level indication show exactly what is expected with the assessment.
There are several important roles that a well-designed rubric provides. They are used as a guide to check and assess the level of student performance and provide evidence that a specific type of learning has occurred. Rubrics are a method of informing the student as to expectations and guidelines concerning subject criteria. They can also be used to improve the quality of instruction, and to further develop student-learning abilities by focusing on deficiencies and emphasizing strengths or accomplishments.
Alexander,
We assess the best we can and according to the rubric and learning outcomes. Thanks for your input
Sounds like a Beatles song. As I stated in one my other posts, even areas like grammar and APA cannot be objectively assessed because instructors have varying knowledge in these areas. I may find mistakes and assess a student's assignment differently than another instructor that doesn't see the mistakes. This happens ALL the time.
Alexander,
I respectfully disagree. You are assessing components that can be objectively assessed - if properly designed.
John,
You are right. There are components of rubrics that help us all.
David,
Yes, and keep in mind that rubrics help both students and instructors. Thank you.
Dawn ,
Rubrics are essential for students and the instructor. Thanks for your input.
To provide both student - the should be shared with students - and instructors with an objective and consistent means of evaluating and assessing work.
Without a defined rubric, instructors can lose focus on an assignment - especially in an asynchronous environment - and not grade in a fair manner.
I believe the role of the rubric is to provide a clear understand of what is expected in the assignment. The student will be clear on the expectation and the outcomes.
If you believe rubrics objective, don't fool yourself. Assigning a number on a scale is subjective in nature. Ten instructors will give the same assignment 10 different assessments. This is especially true if you are rating things like "quality."
Even assessing a student's grammar, spelling and correct APA formatting can be subjective because some faculty possess more knowledge and will find mistakes that another instructor will overlook resulting in a different score.
If you earned any of your degrees more than 10 years ago, I doubt your professors graded your deliverables with a rubric.
