Why Rubrics?

  • Many of the assignments are organized around rubrics. OK, what's a rubric and why should we care?
  • Dictionary Definition of Rubric: an authoritative rule; especially a rule for conduct of a liturgical service; something under which a thing is classed: an explanatory or introductory commentary; an established rule, tradition, or custom
  • Slatta Translation: A rubric is a set of clear, precise standards that informs students of expectations for an assignment and provides the teacher with a fair, consistent set of criteria for assessing performance on an assignment.

    A couple of examples:

    Online Discussion Rubric ***** History Essay Rubric

    OK, so why this concern with rubrics?

    Coming clean:

    Too much important stuff takes place in a black box. Professors perform magic tricks that dazzle students with "woo-woo-woo" and arcane knowledge. However, what about showing them where the magic comes from? What about learning how to evaluate -- how to tell good magic from bad? Rubrics make clear how a discipline and/or a specific instructor evaluates the quality and presentation of information—written or verbal.

    Fairness:

    Is it fair to judge students according to often arcane standards without telling them what those standards are? I don't think so. Rubrics spell out the instructor's expectations clearly.

    Consistency:

    Related to fairness is evaluation consistency--applying the same criteria to all student work. Without rubrics, how can we fairly, accurately, and consistently judge what is A, B, C, or other work? Again, overt standards are far preferable to arbitrary or fuzzy assessment.

    Making the course make sense:

    By tying rubrics to both general course objectives and specific assignment requirements, we create a more logical, intelligible, cohesive learning environment. Students can see and understand the big picture as well as specific activities and the relations between the two.

    Improved Feedback and Learning

    By highlighting student performance strengths and weakness on behavioral criteria (things you can do something about), we can better teach students how to improve in the future. Overly general (holistic) evaluations often fail to pinpoint exactly where a student has excelled and where s/he needs further work.