Chantee ,
And, rubrics also help the instructors. Don't forget that. It's a great tool for all involved.
I have enjoyed introducing rubrics into my class, particularly for discussion assignments. The rubric provides as a guide for students to know exactly how they will be rated (helps them decide what grade they want).
Reviewing the rubric after the assignment is graded, provides specific feedback on the areas where they need to improve.
Angela,
Glad you are including rubrics and finding them helpful. We do have to keep that review process ongoing. Nice job.
Focus. Often we give students a lot of information, both primary and supportive. Sometimes, it can be difficult for them to harvest that information and provide us with specific feedback regarding the most critical components. By providing them with a rubric, they are able to reflect their comprehension of meaningful concepts that are critical to subject matter.
Samantha Eaddy
Samantha,
Excellent word - focus. I never thought about that word when discussing rubrics, but you are exactly right. Thanks!
I am an instructor for an online university and the rubrics we announce and use remove the mystery of grading for the students. With clear details about where points are earned and how they are earned, the students generally stay on-track with their assignments. Before we presented the rubrics to the students, we had many students not understand where they why they lost points and many assignments were sent back for second and third re-writes. Now the students have a clear understanding on what is expected and what value is assigned to each part of the assignment (grammar and spelling, critical thinking, amount of detail, etc.)
Michael,
Anything we can do to remove the mystery - the better. Thanks for adding your input.
I think rubrics provide guidance and directions to the student by helping them clearly understand what the assignment should include. I find that assignments that don't have rubrics allow the student to use their own interpretation of what will be included in an assignment. Once a rubric is created it helps the student meet the goal of the assignment.
Having so many papers to grade in just a few days can be overwhelming. My program requires APA papers 7-10 pages in length most weeks. I could not grade these objectively without a scoring rubric. I used to make my own but luckily the university now requires them and they are included in the actual assignments. Now all instructors are grading using the same rubrics.
I agree Amy. I teach in a Masters of Education program. We do not want to tell our students what to write just what types of things should be included in their own chosen topic. Rubrics make that possible and still have an objective means of grading the papers which are all unique.
As an on-line instructor it is imperative to utilize rubrics as a benchmark to assess the students’ performance. Rubrics are tools that allow the instructor to have a consistent grading system to assure the objectives and competencies were met.
Rubrics will indicate specific tasks the students are required to complete to receive the full points for that assignment. Rubrics are also guides instructors’ can develop to analyze the students’ strengths and weakness. As a result this methodology enables the instructor to create scaffolds regarding challenging coursework to help the students gain a better understanding of the material.
For the same reason it is important in any course; so that the students know what is expected.
If the rubric says that you need an introductory paragraph that includes a thesis statement and a three-prong essay map, and it isn't there, neither of us needs to wonder how many points it is worth. It's right there on the rubric.
