Constructing Good Courses : Designing Rubrics

1. Constructing Good Courses :Designing Rubrics Jodi Welsch CTEAG Sessions 2008

2. Questions • What is a rubric? • When should I use a rubric? • How can I develop a rubric? • How can a rubric help me, as an instructor? • How can a rubric help my students?

3. What is a Rubric? • A set of explicit expectations or criteria • Description of varying levels of performance • Systematic method of scoring student work • Increases reliability and validity of course assessments

4. Holistic Rubric

5. Analytic Rubric

6. Five Reasons to Use Rubrics • Rubrics tell students they must do a careful job. Information on the expected quality of the task performed is given to students. • Rubrics set standards. Students know in advance what they have to do to achieve a certain level. • Rubrics clarify expectations. When levels are described in clear language, everyone knows what is required. The quality of student work will improve. • Rubrics help students take responsibility for their own learning. Students use rubrics to help study information the teacher values. • Rubrics have value to other stakeholders. Anyone (including colleagues, parents and community members) seeing a rubric and a student score based on that rubric knows what content was mastered by that student.

7. When to use a Rubric? • Performance assessment • Product or performance that requires student to demonstrate learning • Examples • Written compositions • Oral presentations • Projects • Problem-solving activities • Visual products • Performances

8. Developing a Rubric • Task • Criteria • Levels of Performance • Share • Evaluate

9. Does the task truly match the outcome(s) you're trying to measure? Does the task require the students to use critical thinking skills? Consider Bloom’s Taxonomy Is the task a worthwhile use of instructional time? Does the assessment use engaging tasks from the "real world”? Are the tasks fair and free from bias? Will the task be credible? Is the task feasible? Is the task clearly defined? Task

10. Task Description • To ensure clarity, task descriptions for students should include: • outcome(s) • clear instructions • assessment conditions • resource materials • format of response (e.g., oral report, written report) • scoring criteria

11. Goal Students will communicate information and ideas effectively. Learning Objective Students will demonstrate the ability to write clear, concise explanation of concepts, using correct grammar, syntax, spelling and word usage. Activity Write a summary report on an article. Task Description This assignment will require you to demonstrate your ability to write clear, concise explanation of concepts, using correct grammar, syntax, spelling and word usage. You will select an article related to our current class topic from a peer-reviewed journal. After reading the article, you will write a report that summarizes the major concepts of the article. This summary should be at least 3 pages long and should be submitted to Blackboard by Friday. Using the rubric, it will be scored based on your explanation of the concepts and the quality of your written work.

12. Criteria • Identify the expected elements within this task • Identify possible levels of performance • 3-5 are typical • Craft descriptions • Exemplary work • Lower levels

13. Task Description • This assignment will require you to demonstrate your ability to write clear, concise explanation of concepts, using correct grammar, syntax, spelling and word usage. You will select an article related to our current class topic from a peer-reviewed journal. After reading the article, you will write a report that summarizes the major concepts of the article. This summary should be at least 3 pages long and should be submitted to Blackboard by Friday. Using the rubric, it will be scored based on your explanation of the concepts and the quality of your written work. • What are the criteria that will be examined in this assignment? • Will the rubric be holistic or analytic? • How many levels of performance? • What would different levels of performance look like? • Exemplary work?

14. Created using RubiStar ( http://rubistar.4teachers.org )

15. Sharing Rubrics • A rubric can be a powerful communication tool.  • Self • Students • Colleagues • Task descriptions and rubrics should be shared with students before assessment

16. Evaluating Rubrics • Use for student self assessment • Revisions • How did the rubric reflect: • Course goals? • Dimensions of student performance? • Clear expectations? • Could the rubric be used easily by others? • Was the rubric effective in measuring learning goals?

17. What is a rubric? When should I use a rubric? How can I develop a rubric? How can a rubric help me, as an instructor? How can a rubric help my students? Answers

18. Web Resources • Rubistar http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php • Teach-nology http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/ • Scholastic http://www.sites4teachers.com/links/redirect.php?url=http://teacher.scholastic.com/tools/rubric.htm • Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/assess.html • ASU Assessment Web http://universityevaluation.asu.edu/fmi/iwp/cgi?-db=LCE_tools&-loadframes

19. Resources • Andrade, H., & Du, Y. (2005). Student perspectives on rubric-referenced assessment. Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, 10, 3. • Andrade, H. (2000). Using rubrics to promote thinking and learning. Educational Leadership, 57,5. 13-18. • Arter, J., & McTighe, J. (2001). Scoring rubrics in the classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. • Montgomery, K. (2001). Authentic tasks and rubrics: Going beyond traditional assessments in college teaching. College Teaching, 50, 1. 34-39. • Stevens, D. & Levi, A. (2005). Introduction to rubrics. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.