Building a Rubric
What are the levels of details that you include in your Rubric?
Hannah,
It varies depending on the assignment/project, but I always include the learning outcomes so they can see how they are connected to the assignment/project. It also depends on the level of the course. For example, in beginning classes I may have less details, but as they build their knowledge from course to course, a capstone project may have many more details.
I can appreciate your perspective. However, I think that it is more important to give more detail in the beginning courses to help the student establish good habits. Presumably the students will all be taking a similar set of classes when they first enroll. When the rubrics are detailed, there will be less variation in how students and instructors interpret the rubric. By eliminating ambiguity in the early stages of school, expectations for academically sound behavior can be established sooner. In the long run, students will be better prepared to succeed in the higher level classes.
Lee,
It's OK to disagree. We all have our own experience and ideas, but the key is that criteria be clear, be connected to assessing the learning outcomes and help both the students and the instructor. Thanks for sharing.
Lee,
I can appreciate your point of view about establishing good habits. I teach not only Freshman, but often students who are taking their first college course (let alone first online course) with me. When I began using rubrics, I started with less detailed criteria and descriptors although as a professional, I felt they were clear. After receiving feedback from students, I found a need to add more criteria and descriptors for them to have a better understanding of the assignment expectations.
Alaina and Lee,
Getting that feedback from students is essential. If they don't understand the expectations and how they relate to the learning outcomes, it's not going to help to give them a rubric. Everything must connect. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I don't include much detail in my rubrics so that I don't limit myself when grading. I usually use the objectives of the assignment. Then in the comments section of the rubric, I tell the student how well they have done in each of the areas.
Trena,
Including the objectives and criteria connected to meeting those objectives helps develop an effective rubric. Thanks.
Hannah:
I am realizing that I might not have been creating the kind of Rubrics that are as helpful as they need to be. I usually just work the assignment into a Rubric adding a percentage for the formatting and mechanics of the assignment. The Rubric is simply an outline of the assignment with percentages for what they will earn for that section of the assignment. I am going to revise this and add more detail with the expectation of quality.
I also don't use numeric evaluations, I use percentages. I might have to rethink that.
Rachelle
Rachelle,
Keep in mind that rubrics and checklists are different. Sometimes people are using checklists and think they are using rubrics, but they are not. Something to think about.
For my rubrics, I always include the learning outcomes for the course and the entire program. This helps the students have a direct correlation to this assignment and the overall program. I also like to include samples of what the best score in that criteria would look like. This gives the learner an idea of what they should include in their work to achieve the highest marks. I will admit that this part is extremely time consuming but necessary. I have always received good feedback from the students that they appreciated being given a guide to follow and base their work.
Beverly,
Great. Including the learning outcomes helps students connect what they are doing to the outcomes.
I really believe that it is a good thing to provide the students with a sample of the rubric as they will know what the instructor is expecting from them.
Elizabeth,
Yes, the rubric helps both the students and the instructor. The better the students understand the expectations, the better they can prepare to achieve the goals. A rubric is a perfect tool to help!
The level of detail really depends upon the material and the assignment. Personally, I believe no more than five criteria should be used in a rubric. If a rubric has more than five criteria, it becomes unwieldy, and that is a very bad thing.
Donald L. Buresh
Donald,
Five is a good rule of thumb depending on the project/assignment/content/etc. Thanks.
Under the five categories, is it possible to list subtopics or have a breakdown of specific items?
Diana,
Us, absolutely. Just make sure the criteria are clear and the students understand the subcategories. However, be careful not to try and assess too much. That can be confusing as well.
Dr. Tena B. Crews
Building a rubric takes knowing all the various parts and pieces of any course. Now that I understand how rubrics work, its now easier to build a rubric for assignments and grading.
Jim,
The building of the rubic is many times the most time consuming part. Keetp up the good work and put the time in. It will benefit you all.
