How to Use Rubrics
Let’s imagine an assignment with multiple requirements where the content and critical thinking is worth 25 of 30 points (see the Assignment rubric).
Obviously the grading of this assignment should be more involved than a simple "done" or "not done." Within those 25 points, you have a gradation of possible points. These points should be assigned based on four issues:
- How complete and thorough the response is
- How well it relates to the course information
- The depth of understanding shown
- Personal insight demonstrated
| Exemplary | Proficient | Developing | ||
| Score | 25 | 15 | 5 | |
| Content and Critical Thinking | __/25 | Thorough and thoughtful response. | Complete response. | Incomplete or superficial response. |
| Clearly reflects specific information presented in the course. | Somewhat relates to specific information presented in the course. | Nonspecific and general in nature, not related to specific course content. | ||
| Demonstrates depth of understanding in the knowledge, skills, and strategies from the course. | Demonstrates some understanding in the knowledge, skills, and strategies from the course. | Demonstrates a lack of understanding in the knowledge, skills, and strategies from the course. | ||
| Demonstrates unique personal insights derived from application and evaluation of course content, using specific examples. | Demonstrates some insight derived from application and evaluation of course content, using no specific examples. | Demonstrates a little evidence of reflection, synthesis, or evaluation, using no specific examples. |
If some of these four areas are met and some are not, the participant could fall somewhere between exemplary and proficient, or between proficient and developing. For example, if an assignment is thorough and thoughtful, clearly relates to the content, and demonstrates depth of understanding, but doesn't demonstrate personal insight or specific examples, that's three of the four. This would be somewhere between exemplary and proficient, closer to exemplary.
Use your judgment and award points along the continuum. In the example above, maybe 22 points is appropriate, between the 25 points of exemplary and the 15 points of proficient. Remember to err or the side of high expectations. Exemplary should mean exemplary, and all areas that are spelled out should be clearly met in order for full credit to be awarded.
Further Reading
Jon Mueller's Authentic Assessment Toolbox provides additional information about the rationale for using rubrics. Heidi Goodrich Andrade's article Using Rubrics to Promote Thinking and Learning explains how to develop and use instructional rubrics.
Everything in this module uses PLS' rubrics for assessment. For your own courses, you can create your own rubrics or use rubrics from another source. For example, NYLearns has a number of rubrics in their collection of free educational resources.