Mistakes in Making Rubrics
What are some common mistakes online instructors may make when creating rubrics?
The terminology used by some instructors is so vague as to be unclear to the student. This seems to be especially true of people who prefer the subjective mode of grading. We have some long time instructors who do not want any specifics in the rubrics so they can still give whatever grade they want. This defeats the purpose of a rubric as an effective, objective means of grading projects.
I believe some of the common mistakes made when creating rubrics, is simply not having enough time. Rubric creation did seem like an easy process until I took this course.
Online instructors also need to avoid creating a rubric without first, reviewing the objectives and understanding what they want the student to gain from the assignment. Another mistake might include too many criteria, causing it to be very hard to assess the students performance.
Some mistakes I have made making or using rubrics is to lose sight of the learning objective in the course. I forget the goal of the course is to get students through one set of criteria and I then hold the students to a higher standard. The rubrics sometimes need to be more detailed or customized for the course material to give examples of each criteria.
Christopher,
Good point. We have to carefully consider the criteria and points or percentages assigned to each. Good job.
Daniel,
The criteria are essential in development of the rubric Thanks for bringing that up.
Shirley,
You are right. The feedback should be specific enough to help the students improve.
Jeremy,
If you have a well-designed rubric, how could you not provide proper feedback?
One of the mistakes we made on one of our rubrics was placing too much value (25%) on the grammar, format, and flow of the paper. We realized that more weight needed to be placed on the content of what was taught and expected. Once we updated the weighted values for each area of the rubric, the results matched the criteria.
One of the biggest mistakes in creating rubrics is not establishing criteria well enough for assessment. In addition, the rubric has to include language that not only encourages well-done assignments, but also has reinforcing language that doesn't discourage students and encourages a better attempt.
Common mistakes are having the criteria too ambiguous. Also, not to have specific criteria that are related to the terminal course objectives or to the course specifics.
Providing too little feedback on the point allocations can be another common mistake as well.
Best,
Dr. Shirley Chuo
Not providing proper feedback
Samantha,
Yes, I do not use a range. I use a single number. The range can cause some issues. Thank you.
Courtney,
Good point. The criteria and points assigned to them must be carefully planned. Thanks!
An error I've made in making rubrics is to not realistically look at the points that I am assigning to each criteria. I've gone both ways in assigning too many or not enough and then struggling with the thought that I was not grading appropriately. Do you change the rubric mid semester? I tend not to.
Many rubrics I use are provided. A common mistake I see is having a numerical range for each criterion. Student who may receive an Excellent in an area worth 9 or 10 points do not understand why they received the 9 instead of the 10.
Samantha Eaddy
Yvette,
Yes, when we have too many components, it can be confusing to the students. Thanks for noting that.
Janelle and Lee,
Thanks for continuing the conversation. The information you are sharing from your experience is very helpful.
Angela,
I create my rubrics to have a zero for no work. I do not assign points for no work. Thanks!
One of the most common mistakes that I have seen is the length and number of components of the rubric. It is important to ensure that we incorporate no more than 4-8 points for the rubric.
