Hey folks! First off, I want to apologize for the less than exciting blogging week; things have been completely insane over here! Two projects on the go, two books being written (whaaaaat?!), webinars and meetings – oh my!, and a proposal that I’m working on. All exciting things, but how does Beyonce do it?
This week I wanted to chat a bit about rubrics. The online course I’m taking is currently discussing course quality, and rubrics feature prominently in this discussion. Now, as a student, I’ve been on the annoyance side of the rubric stand-point (ugh…a table?! you want me to look at a table to figure out what I need to do?!), but I’ve also learned to appreciate the structure of a rubric and how functional it can be, especially when evaluating more subjective materials that don’t necessarily have a solid wrong or right answer – e.g. papers.
So, what is a rubric?
A rubric is an evaluation tool that allows individuals responsible for evaluation tasks to be able to easily and effectively do their jobs. Rubrics break down the criteria, providing a range of options for each item. Evaluators will select the range option that corresponds with the material for which they are evaluating. At the end of the evaluation, the score (based on the range options selected) will be added up, providing the student with their grade.
I’m with you, Ashley – these sound annoying. Why would anyone use them?
- As I said before, they make it a heck of a lot easier to evaluate subjective materials
- They can enhance academic achievement by providing students with a clear outline of what they need to do in order to score within a particular range.
- They can provide students with a criteria for conducting peer evaluations, which as an instructor, ensures you don’t get an entire class full of 5/5 peer evaluations.
- As an instructor, they help you back up your evaluation decisions by offering a tangible explanation for students who seek to challenge their grades.
Rubric resources, please. Here you go:
Leave a Reply