Christina,
You're right. The time and effort to create a viable rubric is well worth it. Also, you'll be able to use the rubric over and over again with a few tweaks and may even be able to adjust the same rubric for another course or project. That's a time saver too.
Thanks!
Hello Dr. Crews,
When we instructors create effective rubrics, they not only create assessment criteria, they integrate those criteria with the course objectives. In addition we provide our students with a means to evaluate their own learning.
Sincerely,
Michael Luzius
Michael ,
"Effective" is the key word. We have to work at it to get the criteria and objectives in the rubric so we can help our students improve. Thanks!
Rubrics provide a foudation for expectations which is especially critical in an online distance education environment. The rubric must be explained to the students, specifically what are you looking for as the instrcutor, and then the assignmetns submitted must be graded according to those rubric expectations. I have seen many of my colleagues explicitly tell the students in their Live Chats what they expect and then grade the assignments subjectively on criteria not explained, or as compared to other student work. I have found that developing a "model answer" beforehand helps me provide better feedback and consistency in my grading of papers.
Dr. Crews, I feel like the rubric is important for us as online instructors because we do not get face to face time to explain the grades and assignments. When we use the rubric they can see what we expect when we may not be immediately available for discussion. I believe there are fewer questions on grade issues as well when they see exactly what is needed by the student.
John ,
Love the phrase "foundation of expectations." That says it all. We have to all be on the same page with expectations so the students can do the work and we can help them succeed. I like your model answers approach. Thanks!
Daron,
You are right. The more we lose the F2F component, the more we need to think carefully about our communication with students. The rubric is a communication tool to help students understand the expectations as well. Thanks!
It is important to use rubrics because it gives the students the expectations and also provides the student with more feedback. The grading will also be more consistent for students and instructors will have an easier time providing effective feedback.
Deb
Deborah,
Excellent. The rubrics with excellent criteria are the key.
Thanks!
I teach science subjects so I really liked the idea of using rubrics as it defines what is needed for each assignment up front. It provides a fair system of grading that the student is aware of from the start.
Task-specific rubrics . I think it will provide my students with guidelines on what kind of performances is expected from them.
I Think it is very important to define those necessary expectations in a class from the very start so the students understand what is needed to get a good grade.
Kristina, I completely agree with you that it is very important to uphold a high level of objectivity and reliabilty.
Very important to maintain consistency
AISLING
Aisling,
Bet the rubrics you develop do work well with your discipline. Keep up the good work in helping students understand the expectations and reaching for the learning objectives. Thanks!
Aisling and Kristina,
You are right on track. Consistency is essential.
Nice job.
Rubrics are more useful in an online environment as they serve as a quick and thorough way to reinforce criticism and overall achievement. In a traditional setting, this can be done through verbal or quick written feedback. Since this is not possible online, rubrics are a great way to being precise and consistent.
William,
I think rubrics are important no matter what the learning environment, but I follow your logic about them being more useful in the online environment as they help students understand the expectations and assist with consistent assessment. Thanks!
Rubrics are indispensable in the classroom. The students understand what they are expected to learn and apply on each assignment. They will know what they will be graded on. Rubrics, in my opinion, should not be so restrictive as to drive or channelize the students’ learning particularly in my area – Business. Rubrics ensure a consistency of grading over time. I also think that with that, rubrics make grading less time consuming. I have found that the time spent in creating the rubrics is paying forward in the time it takes to fairly grade projects. Rubrics also emphasize the practice of detailed feedback on students’ strengths and weaknesses. Formative feedback, as per the instruction, does indeed anchor learning.
George,
Right on! The rubrics help the students understand the expectations and help the instructor be more objective in their grading. I like that you mention the detailed feedback that can also be provided through the rubrics. Thanks!
Rubrics provide guidance for how instructions should be followed. In addition, rubrics are an excellent means to clarify formative feedback. Analytical rubrics divide learning objectives into functional sections to then provide a student with clear understanding for where improvement must be targeted. The importance for empowering the learing skills of the student must be targeted from the work submitted. I return students papers to them with analytical rubrics pasted at the end of the submitted paper. Then I tie balloons content connected to highlighted areas that need improvement. The rubric displays how the points are assessed for each area defined as formative feedback in the work returned.
Dr. Glenn ,
Rubrics can provide formative and summative feedback and are essential for both students and the instructor. Thanks for your input.
I think it is important that you pointed out "defining expectations". It is important for students to know what is expected of them; however, the rubric does not have to be so rigid as to lead them in the direction that they need to go go complete the assignment. For example, I teach social work theory. It is an exploratory class in which students apply theory to different situations and experiences. Their rubrics guide them in the expectations of the assignment related to the task; however, it does not tell them "how".
