Amy,
I love that you brought up the point that it's a mistake when we don't connect the learning objectives to the rubric. I actually list the objectives in the rubric. It helps the students understand why they are doing what they are doing. Thanks!
Some common mistakes are the point system being too generalized, as well as not applying the rubric to course learning objects or outcomes. The institution I work for has rubrics already standardized for each class; however, I can see areas for improvement. We have had some issues with grade inflation and I believe that tweaking the rubric may help with this issue.
Heather,
Yes, and if the rubric is too "wishy-washy," the students won't understand the expectations or be confused by the rubric. That's never good. Thanks!
Some commone mistakes are they are not specific enough with the descriptors and students do not understand how to interpret them. The more specific the better.
RICARDO,
Agreed. It's worth the time to make a good rubric and make sure the objectives are connected. I actually list the objective in the rubric so the students understand why they are doing what they are doing. Thanks!
Dr. Crews:
According to the readings, “[m]any people think they don't have to spend much time planning information to put in a rubric. They believe they can just "whip something up" at the last minute. This is probably the biggest mistake when it comes to creating rubrics.†Other common mistakes include putting too many criteria in the rubric, not clearly defining the criteria and not connecting the assignment to course outcomes within the rubric. The latter is certainly an area I did not include in my rubrics. I will be sure to revise with these criteria in mind. Ricardo
Carolyne,
Yes, too much information can cause confusion and the rubric will be of no help to the students or the instructor. It takes practice, but making sure the objectives are assessed and the criteria are efficient is key.
Carol,
There is a happy place between too many criteria and not enough criteria. It takes some practice in making rubrics to find that balance. We have to make sure those criteria effectively assess the objectives. I like to put the objectives in the rubric as well. Thanks for your input.
Some common mistakes instructors may make when creating rubrics are: including too much information on the rubric and having it too detailed. I am referring to a rubric for my online course that was created for use with the tutorial assignment by the creators of the assignment. Using it to grade the students is very time consuming because it is not properly organized, too wordy, and too detailed. Just to look at it is a real turnoff. I have hence developed my own rubric for the assignment based on criteria that the student and I can easily follow to obtain the same results. I believe that rubrics that come with the textbook assignments are to be used as guidelines in developing your own rubrics.
I would likely create too many criteria because I find that the criteria created by my institution are very broad and I want to be more specific. When the only criteria are to 1) complete the assignment as instructed, and 2) submit the assignment correctly, I think we as instructors have too much flexibility in how we assign the points. What does it mean to complete the assignment as instructed? Does that mean if you miss one of five questions asked you get 4/5ths of the points? What if there are spelling and grammatical errors? How many points should be deducted? What does it mean to submit the assignment correctly? Does that include naming the file as instructed? With such broad parameters, students are not getting consistent feedback from instructor to instructor.
Another common mistake is rushing to create the criteria, which requires more time to do well.
The format and language also have to be easily understood by the student so they can self-assess before submitting their assignments.
Letrice,
We do have to plan prior to "whipping up" a rubric. The criteria are essential as well. We want the students to understand the expectations, not be confused. Nice job.
I think the most common mistake, is creating a rubric at the last minute, as well as having vague requirements included. Students often times have a lot of questions because the rubric is subjective and they don't quite understand the expectations of what the instructor wants.
carol,
Great. It is amazing what we learn as we move through the "life of teaching online." Take care.
Dr. Crews, yes, I have since replaced numbers with words similar to the ones you mentioned (or a combination) Because first it helped fix my problem of all 3s aren't the same, but it helps the student remove the focus of a number/grade and helps them focus on the product and future improvement.
carol,
Interesting. Do you have words associated with the numbers? For example, is a 4 "Exemplary" and a 1 "Poor" or something like that? It helps me use words associated with the numbers and I think it helps students too. I typically use something like "Exceeds Expectations" - "Meets Expectations" - "Needs Improvement" and "Does Not Meet Expectations." Some instructors use terms like "Excellent, Needs Improvement and Poor" or "Demonstrates Mastery, Somewhat Mastery, Lacks Mastery." You have to work with the words that you need and ones that make sense for you and your students. Hope this is helpful.
carol,
We've all been there. We have all worked at that last moment trying to "whip something up." Again, we learn from this. As we learn from others, we get better at what we do. Thanks!
One of the mistakes that I've seen is the variation of the quality of work within a criteria. The ones I've seen are the 4-3-2-1 or some variation of it. But, I've struggled to figure out the grade within that point value. I've seen students get a 3 which would translate to the students as a B, but as an instructor, not all 3s are the same. I'm not sure yet, how to fix that. I've used the 3+, 3- ..but that seems too vague to the students too.
I think I can relate to every mistake mentioned in our text. Early on, I tried to just whip one up at the last minute and have made some frustrating mistakes. I remember one that was to evaluate a project but the project was going to be used to determine if the students had met standards. First off, my rubric was too vague. Students weren't sure what I expected. That was probably because I didn't take the time to chart the objectives I needed the students to display and didn't develop a task analysis of the project. As a consequence I didn't gather the information I needed, wasted a lot of time doing the project and still had to assess the standards. I was so frustrated and mad at myself that I wanted to give up on rubrics...because getting the time to think this through is half the battle...figured I wasn't going to be able to do a good job. But this course, and others I've taken have taught me a lot,
William,
Yes, there is no one-size-fits-all rubric. The criteria can't be too generic, not too specific as to stifle creativity. Thanks!
Probably making them too generic to save time. That and using old rubrics from past sessions or previous instructors that again save time.
