I feel like my grading is more consistent across the board when I use a rubric. It allows me to stay focused on criteria instead of being swayed by topic choice or style or even my personal interaction with the student, both positive and negative.
Alan,
The criteria and the points are important parts of the rubric. Thanks for your description!
Analytic rubrics provide the student with the criteria for what is expected, not in general, but by detailed sections. Points should be provided for each section.
Sabahudin,
Nice job. Rubrics are good for all types of assessment. They help both the students and the instructor.
I think that rubrics are very important. They are useful in both objective and subjective assignments, as well as formative and summative evaluations. I find that the most success with rubrics is when I teach the class what the grading criteria will be and how to reach it, or even when I let the class design a suitable rubric for the assignment at hand by reflecting on the learned material and selecting what matters.
John,
Exactly. A great tool that can help both the instructors and students. Feedback provided to students should help them improve. Thanks for your input in this forum.
Rubrics offer a great way for students to focus on the assignment's objectives, and can cut down on grading time. Students can over-analyze assignment instructions, and may not overlook critical aspects of the subject matter being discussed. Students are also motivated by attaining the highest score possible, and a rubric eliminates surprises and any uncertainty for a student on if they're completing the assignment correctly. As an instructor rubrics allow me to get feedback and grades to students in a timely manner, which is a critical piece to their continued development and improvement in a course.
John,
Once you incorporate the effectively into your own classroom, you'll see a huge difference in the students' understanding of the expectations, products they deliver to you and your assessment. Thanks!
I have never used rubrics and am taking this course to learn more about how they could improve my effectiveness in the classroom. It appears from this module that they will help me develop a uniformity in my assessments. If I can incorporate them into my courses, I think I will be able to improve feedback and uniformity of scoring.
I have heard the term many times but have not really understood how I can benefit (let alone my students). As I move through the course, I hope to gain a better understanding and how I can improve my teaching efforts.
Lakithia,
Thanks for including the fact that rubrics help both instructors and students. Nice job.
Keep adding to the conversation through these forums.
The advantages of using a rubric are the following:
It improves student’s performance because they demonstrate clearly how assignments will be evaluated and outline expectations for assignments.
It reduces grading time on the instructor's end because the instructor knows exactly what details to focus on.
Lastly, it creates consistence with grading. Rubrics ensure that the grading standards used by the instructor do not change over time.
Melinda ,
I agree. When I teach business communication, the rubrics are even more helpful to me than other courses I have taught due to the writing factor. Thanks!
As a writing teacher, rubrics help me expedite grading and make something, like writing, which can be subjective, more objective.
James,
The fact that you noted positive feedback can be provided through the use of rubrics is excellent. Thanks for using rubrics and giving students great, meaningful feedback.
I found the advantage of using a rubric as a vehicle to provide positive feedback to the students and improve their learning.
Sandra,
Right on. Glad you brought up the point that both the students and instructors benefit form rubrics. Thanks for the link to DePaul's Teaching Commons. We like to stretch beyond these forums. Thanks!
Rhonda,
So, is this a benefit for the students or instructor? BOTH! ;-) There are other benefits as well as they help students understand the expectations and show the connections between the assignment/project and the learning objectives. Thanks!
Advantages include the ability for both the student and the instructor to know what the performance expectations are for the assignment. While there is some level of subjectivity that the instructor must use when grading a written assignment, the rubric provides objectives guidelines in which to follow for specific elements of the assignment.
The analytic rubric will provide specific descriptions for what needs to be met within the assignment, for example, paper organization of information and assign a weight to those specific criteria.
Through the use of these rubrics students can identify their strengths and weaknesses for future assignments.
Depaul Teaching Commons. Types of rubrics. Retrieved from http://teachingcommons.depaul.edu/Feedback_Grading/rubrics/types-of-rubrics.html
The main advantage of rubrics are to score students fairly and consistently.
Rita,
And, don't forget that rubrics help the instructors as well. We evaluate more consistently when we use rubrics.
Thanks!
