A rubric is helpful for both the instructor and the student. The instructor uses the rubric to design expectations for the students. This makes grading more objective and fair. For the student, they are now given specific requirements they have to meet for the assignment.
A rubric provides clear and consistent feedback guidelines not only for students, but for instructors as well.
I find that it is easy to evaluate a students' work on the basis of his or her personal abilities, and sometimes this creates unfair or inconsistent grading practices. For example, one student may be very good at expressing themselves clearly with almost perfect written diction, whereas another, although also expressing themselves clearly, yet their grammar and delivery does not elevate to the level of another student. It's easy to be arbitrary and comparitive, however, with a rubric, consistency does reign and as an instructor, I have a guideline and don't have to think too hard about each post or assignment.
The purpose of a grading rubric is to establish criteria against which to grade an assignment. Rubrics should tie the assignment to the learning objectives and course outcomes. For the types of assignments in which rubrics are made available to the students, rubrics can also serve to help the students understand the purpose of the assignment and how their assignment submission will be graded.
Victoria,
I love rubrics too. They not only help the students understand the expectations, but help the instructor in two ways.
1) Be more consistent in evaluating student work.
2) Review projects against the rubric to ensure objectives are being met.
Thanks for your input.
I love rubrics. Rubrics help to establish expectations for a particular assignment. It also helps the instructor create a consistent form of grading/feedback. It is always important to provide rubrics to students ahead of time so that you set them up for success. They know what they have to do and how many points each learning objective is worth.
Rebecca,
RubiStar is your "friend." ;-) There are others, but I use RubiStar quite a bit, save them to my computer and then tweak them as I change the project or get feedback from students. Rubrics help both the instructor and students. Thanks for your input.
I was intrigued by the RubiStar website that was mentioned in this module...
The role of a rubric is definitely to set guidelines for students so they will know exactly what is being asked of them.
Diane,
You are right on track! The important thing for everyone to understand is that a rubric benefits both the students and the instructor. When we all benefit, it's a win win situation. Thanks for your input.
I believe that the rubics role is to provide students a framework for the course. It allows for a simple assessment and standardized evaluation. As instructors we have a tool to not only evaluate student participation but it also helps to clearly explain what the instructors expectations of the student are
Richard,
The main thing to remember is that rubrics help everyone. The students more clearly understand the expectations and the instructor grades more consistently. Nice job.
Tyra,
The key with rubrics is that it helps both students and the instructor. Many times I'm creating a rubric for a project and it leads me to change something in the project to make it more clear and measurable. Rubrics help everyone.
I think it is a valuable way to communicate expectations to students. It can also be used to model desired behavior/responses. For the instructor, it serves as a medium to grade consistently and efficiently. It takes the "subjectivity" out of grading.
a rubric helps the student understand what is expected of him and how he might conduct himself in the course. rubrics allow the teacher to provide guidelines for the students and in the end will make the teachers life a bit easier. it can also help the teacher become more organized.
Donna,
The key is that rubrics help the instructor and the students. They are an important in students understanding expectations and instructors communicating those expectations. Nice job.
The role of the rubric is first of all to establish expectations for the assignments. These expectations and criteria to meet the expectations should be shared with students before the assignments is started.
The rubric can be used by the student to self-assess and correct any area of the assignment that doesn't meet the criteria before he/she submits it for evaluation.
The rubric is an essential tool for the instructor to fairly and consistently evaluate an assignment. It also is a great starting point for feedback to the student.
Mandy,
Remember the rubric helps the students and the instructor. It's a two-way tool.
I think that a rubric will give a better understanding of what is expected of the student in a discussion post. For example , the content and length.
Charlene,
It's imporant to know that a rubric helps the students and the instructor. Consistent feedback from the instructor is also important. Thanks.
The rubric can be used to gage whether or not a student understands the material. If the student is not doing well; it can be used to advise the student on strategies he might implement in order to be more successful in class. It can also be used to encourage those students who doing well to continue to do so.
I think the role of a rubric is to help students and instructors when grading discussion forums and assignments. Rubrics let the student know how the assignment or discussion forum will be graded and allows for fair grading.
Kim
