Developing Effective Rubrics
Center for Teaching, Learning, and Leadership

 Welcome!

This guide is designed to provide you with some background information on Rubrics: what they consist of, what makes them effective, and how to design them.

Listed below are the expected Learning Outcomes for the lesson:

• Classify different Rubric types.
• Identify the parts of a rubric and what makes it effective.
• Develop an effective grading Rubric that can be integrated into Blackboard.

*Prior to beginning the lesson, you should select an assignment from a course that you teach to use in the final activity.*

Let's start off with a question...

How would you assess this?

 Mouse over to see the answer.

What is a Rubric?

• An objective scoring tool that lays out the specific performance expectations for an assignment.

• Rubrics divide an assignment into its component parts and provide a detailed description of what constitutes acceptable or unacceptable criteria for each of those parts.

• A rubric is not a checklist

Why use Rubrics?

Why use Rubrics: Activity

Rubrics are more than just a tool; they assist in the learning process, both for students and for instructors.

Based on what you learned on the previous page, what are the advantages that rubrics offer each group? 

Applications

Rubrics can be applied to any discipline!

They can be used to assess almost any kind of assignment:

Example: Weekly Online Discussion Board Rubric

• Are there any assignments (aside from tests/quizzes) in your class that you could use a rubric to grade? Keep that assignment in mind as you move through the lesson.

Designing a Rubric: Types

There are a variety of ways in which rubrics can be designed. We will look at the two most common rubric types: Holistic and Analytic.

Holistic Rubric:

• Provides a single score based on the overall product or performance of the learner. The focus is on overall quality.
• Holistic rubrics are effective for large group scoring or for assignments that can be judged as a whole.
• They offer the least amount of specific details.

Analytic Rubric:

• Provides specific feedback for a variety of dimensions.
• Can be time-consuming to develop initially, but is a time-saver in the long run.
• Choice of precise terms for dimensions is important.

 The Parts of a Rubric

There are four basic components present in rubrics:

1. The Task Description.
2. The Dimensions (criteria) of the assignment.
3. The Scale Levels that are used to measure the quality of performance for each dimension. This range can consist of numbers (such as 1-4), terms (such as "novice," "proficient," and "excellent") or letter grades (in the case of holitic rubrics).
4. The Descriptions of the expected level of performance for a given dimension.

 The Parts of a Rubric: Activity

Use the Drag and Drop tool to determine which component matches its definition.

 Designing a Rubric: Scale Level Differentiation

Now that we know the parts of rubric, let's take a more in depth look at scale levels...

- When designing a rubric, how do you determine the number of scale levels to use?

- What terms should you use?

- What should be the cut-off point between a "progressing" performance and a "competent" performance?

The next page will examine each of these factors for both Holistic and Analytic rubrics.

Designing a Rubric: Scale Level Differentiation Guide

 Designing a Rubric: Tips

Now you've learned what a rubric is, the different types of rubrics, and the parts and scale levels of a rubric, here are a few tips for making your rubric effective:

Rubric Template Practice Activity

Ready for some practice? Using the basic rubric template provided, try creating an analytic rubric for the Pop Culture Dictionary Assignment mentioned at the beginning of the lesson.

Download the basic rubric template and the Pop Culture Dictionary Assignment:

Rubric Basic Template.docx

Pop Culture Dictionary Assignment (1).docx

***Remember to include all of the rubric components: task description, dimensions, scale levels, and performance descriptions.***

Rubric Evaluation

 How does your rubric measure up?

A challenge that many instructors face is trying to decide if the rubric they have created is effective and addresses the important aspects of the given assignment. Included below is a handy "rubric for rubrics" that can help you to determine the quality of the rubric you have created.

Rubric for Rubrics.pdf

Use it to evaluate the practice rubric you just created, and when developing rubrics in the future!

Wrapping Up

 As we near the end of our lesson on rubrics, let's take a moment to review some key points:

• Classifying the different rubric types (Holistic or Analytic).

• Identifying the parts of a rubric.

Create Your Own Rubric

We've covered a lot on rubrics in this lesson. Ready to build a rubric that you can use in one of your courses? Here's your chance!

Instructions

Using an assignment from a course that you teach (remember when you were asked to keep one in mind earlier in the lesson?), you will build a rubric of your own. Follow these steps:

1. Use the Basic Rubric Template found on page 15.

2. Based on your assignment and what you have have learned in this lesson, determine the type of rubric to use.

3. Create your rubric, making sure to include all of the necessary parts. Refer back to previous pages in the lesson for help:

Holistic Examples Analytic Examples The Parts of A Rubric Scale Levels Rubric Design Tips Rubric Evaluation

4. Evaluate your rubric using the Rubric for Rubics handout.

5. Email your finished rubric to receive feedback from the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Leadership.

6. Enjoy the grading timed you saved by using your new rubric!

References

Listed below are additional rubric resources.

iRubric: a gallery of re-usable rubrics that can be tailored to your specific assignment

•http://www.rcampus.com/indexrubric.cfm

Quality Rubrics: a great website that has a wealth of information on rubrics

•http://qualityrubrics.pbworks.com/w/page/992395/Home

The TLT Group: more rubric help/examples

•http://www.tltgroup.org/resources/rubrics.htm

You can also find the book Introduction to Rubrics: An Assessment Tool to Save Grading Time, Convey Effective Feedback and Promote Student Learning in the CTLL library.

 Thank you for taking the time to learn about Rubrics!