»Rubrics

Rubrics provide clear and transparent ways for students to be evaluated on assignments, projects, discussions, and other creative activities. Rubrics help set basic academic expectations for students while also setting similar grading scales amongst colleagues in the same class and offer the following benefits:  

• Provide transparency in evaluation/assessment of student work

• Indicate to students how to demonstrate their knowledge

• Clarify grading/scoring outcomes

• Can be used by students for self-assessment

• Support equity and consistency in grading/scoring of student work

• Can be used to streamline grading and feedback

Creating a Rubric  

• When creating a rubric there are a few design considerations to consider. First, the criteria should relate to the learning outcomes, not the “tasks” of the assessment. Second, you should include Include performance-level descriptions along a continuum (e.g., emerging --> mastery). Third, Use distinct, clear, and meaningful labels for performance levels. Lastly, consider the appropriate type of rubric for the assessment and your grading/feedback practices (e.g., holistic vs analytic). Here is a summary of our best rubric practices:  

• Limit the rubric to a single page for reading and grading ease 

• Use parallel language. Use similar language and syntax/wording from column to column. Make sure that the rubric can be easily read from left to right or vice versa.  

• Use student-friendly language. Make sure the language is learning level appropriate. If you use academic language or concepts, you will need to teach those concepts. 

• Share and discuss the rubric with your students. Students should understand that the rubric is there to help them learn, reflect, and self-assess. If students use a rubric, they will understand the expectations and their relevance to learning. 

• Consider scalability and reusability of rubrics. Create rubric templates that you can alter as needed for multiple assignments.  

• Maximize the descriptiveness of your language. Avoid words like “good” and “excellent.” For example, instead of saying, “uses excellent sources,” you might describe what makes a resource excellent so that students will know. You might also consider reducing the reliance on quantity, such as a number of allowable misspelled words. Focus instead, for example, on how distracting any spelling errors are. 

Language Matters: Asset-vs. Deficit-Based Rubric Design  

There are two different approaches to rubric design which consist of an asset-based approach and deficit-based approach. An asset-based approach consists of that learning is a developmental progress, that learners continuously build on existing knowledge to enhance or regain their skills and focuses on the positive aspects of students’ effort and performance and defines students based on their strengths and or successes. On the other hand, a deficit-based approach encourages a model of pathology, where it emphasizes anyone who is unable to learn what educators think they should, and in the expected manner and time frame, must be behind or deficient. The deficit-based approach usually focuses on the negative aspects of students’ effort and performance and defines students based on their weaknesses and/or failures, not their strengths. Here’s an example below:

 

To get you started here is a rubric template:

 

Useful Tips

Artificial Intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Copilot have proven to be useful tools for creating a rubric. Engineer your prompt that you provide the AI assistant to ensure you get what you want. For example, you might provide in your prompt:

• the assignment description
• the criteria you feel are important
• the desired number of levels of performance

Use the results as a starting point and adjust as needed.