P.
Another thing to remember is that rubrics help students and instructors. Consistency in grading and understanding expectations are essential.
I think a rubric allows for fair assessment of each student using the same criteria. It also allows them to understand what is expected of them for all areas covered in the rubric. I think it is important to alter the rubric to incorporate the essentials to be learned in any exercise, and treating it as a "living document" - in other words, editing it, as needed, for each term -- allows the instructor to keep the rubric relevant. I also request input from my collegues to help me to add -- or subtract or alter -- things within the rubric that may not be evident to me as needing to be altered.
Melissa,
I love the way you think. As rubrics help both the students and instructors, it is an important component to the learning process. Nice job.
David,
It is important to remember that the rubric helps the students and the instructor. When students understand the expectations and instructors measure learning more consistently, there is growth in the learning process. Thank you for your input.
The Rubric is key. I believe that quality rubrics should have similar format and point distribution from assignment to assignment. By this I mean, the rubric will change but its structure should not. I believe the use of effective, consistent rubrics is an area where Online education excels above ground education. Student should be trained to use the rubric as tool to check their work to be sure they covered all the high points. A well-crafted rubric creates higher quality submissions, reduces grading challenges, and can reduce student anxiety when submitting work.
Hello,
The role of the rubric is absolutely necessary in academia at any level of education. To not use a rubric is simply not acceptable as instructors would be applying grades inconsistently without the use of a consistent reference point. Instructors would then be using memory of how to assess the project, which is biased. The instructors should be objectively utilizing a rubric and academic institutions should mandate it.
Melissa
Dr. Glenn,
Effectively using rubrics and Bloom's Taxonomy together is essential. I love a tool that can be effective in helping understand the learning outcomes (which I actually put in the rubric) and the components of the project, as well as how they will be assessed. Thank you for your comments.
I believe that rubrics are one of the best tools to use for active student learning and authentic assessment. An important consideration for rubrics is quality definitions for student understanding. Rubrics must be concise, direct with the absence of ambiguity in the verbiage to avoid setting false expectations for the student. Popham (2006) stated, "With a few exceptions, teachers use rubrics to judge the adequacy of students' response to performance tests" (p. 240). Rubrics provide a structure for understanding the expected content of the required deliverable or performance. Bloom's Taxonomy's 2nd level is comprehension or understanding. One excellent benefit of rubric use is as a guide for assessment of student work. Having a guide that provides a scoring mechanism contributes to effective and quality feedback for students through the use of scoring the rubric by the instructor. The ability to include directly related feedback targeted to the specific issue in the student's work empowers the student to learn through experience with reconstruction of knowledge.Â
The rubric must be clear of any confusing or overly general content for students to interpret. While this provides a good structured approach for student assessment a very important consideration is the level of detail and guidelines provided. The rubric must indicate general categorical requirements that specify a progressive alignment of the curricular content to ensure the information is a structural guide versus providing information that would enable the student to use the content in the demonstration of the learning outcome. Balancing the length of the rubric is essential for student and instructor use.
I use rubrics in the online facilitation for all deliverables. I recommend that rubrics be used for all authentic and criteria required assessment. The rubrics I use are very structured with appropriate content organized to provide the student with an understanding of the minimum requirements. I include extensive feedback with examples for student reconstruction of understanding and guidance for modification of expectation on a copy of the original rubric to students. Â
What do you believe is the most important aspect of a good rubric?
Reference
Popham, W. J. (2006). Assessment forÂ
    educational leaders. Boston: Pearson
Marcia,
Right on. I love those "magic" things in education! It is always nice to have something that benefits the students Nd instructors. Thanks for your input.
A few years ago, “rubric†seemed some sort of magic solution to a variety of issues, perhaps like spell- and grammar-check. At meetings and in emails, the term was used almost to a point of redundancy. It is important, however, to show students what will be expected to establish comprehension and attain various grade levels, and a type of grid frequently called a rubric is a good visual representation of the possibilities.
Brenda,
Right on. It's important to note that rubrics help the students and instructor. The better the expectations are understood and the learning outcomes are consistently evaluated. The better. Thanks!
Rubrics role is simply a guideline for grading. It allows teachers and students to feel comfortable. If an student didn't do so well on a quiz, the student can check the rubrics and see what exactly their teacher deducted points off for. This also gives the teacher a peace of mind when they know the students have been issued a set of guidelines to follow in the beginning!
I see the role of a rubric as being the boundary or focus for the assignment. Rubrics give direction for completing, presenting, and constructing the assignment.
George,
Not only breaking down the assignments, but connecting the pieces or the assignment as a whole to the learning outcomes. I put my learning outcomes in the rubric as well. This shows the students why they are doing what they are doing. . to achieve a learning outcome. Rubrics help the instructor and student. Thanks for the resource journal.
Rubrics are key in “breaking down†the assignments. In a nutshell, they assess student performance and the product that is the “turn-in.†They also give students a sense of what to expect on each dimension on which the assignment will be graded. “Here is what I am looking for and here is how you will be graded.†The rubric is transparent and a consistent way to assess or “grade†student performance. When assignments are ambiguous as are the grading criteria, it follows that the grading will not make much sense to a student. The “grade†will be of no use other than an end in and of itself. It will seem arbitrary. The rubric establishes what counts and the spelled out criteria simplify the grading process for the instructor, and contribute to the learning of the student. Rubrics establish the performance criteria then delineate levels of performance. The levels of performance depend on the purpose of the assessment. Formative assessments will have more levels than summative since the feedback tends to be more specific. (Wolfe and Stevens, 2007) Rubrics apply a rhyme and a reason to the grading process – helpful to the student and invaluable for consistent grading for the instructor.
Wolfe, K. and Stevens, E. (2007) The role of rubrics in advancing and assessing student learning.The Journal of Effective Teaching, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2007 3-14
Melinda ,
Ah, but the rubric is also good for the students. It helps them understand the expecations as well and move toward the learning outcomes. Thanks for your input.
The role of a good rubric, to me, is a tool that allows for objective grading in a timely manner that provides formative and constructive feedback.
Nathan,
Ah, love the term - "seal of quality." It's a key element for both the instructor and student as you noted. Nice job.
Karen,
Yes, right one. The rubric helps both the instructor and the students. It helps the instructor not only grade more consistenly, but review the project/assignment to make sure all necessary components are included. Nice job.
Rubrics are a seal of quality. It takes the subjective element out of grading. It provides the students with clear objectives, clear guidelines. Without those rubric things get really messy.
