Scott,
Right - either way - too much or too little can be confusing to the students and not helpful at all. We do have to make sure the objectives are connected to the rubric so that we don't assess the wrong things. Good point.
I teach a lot of design and drafting based courses. The rubrics for these need to really be fine tuned so there is enough wiggle room for student creativity and still are dialed in enough that some specifics are covered. I have seen rubrics that are too specific so students do exactly what the items are and do not worry about the rest. This results in a very high grade for a project that may actually be lacking and not exhibit good understanding. Many of the online courses I have taught have had rubrics like this. It leads to grade inflation and poor understanding of the big concepts.
It is a fine line that an instructor has to walk to create a rubric for an art or design based class where you want to have some pretty specific elements that must be done well and still allow for creativity and creation of the big picture project.
Matthew,
Yes, many people thing rubrics stifle creativity, but carefully planned, they do not. But, as you note, there is a fine line. Thanks for your input.
Some of the mistakes faculty can make when creating a rubric is if the rubric provides detailed feedback the students will be able to understand and learn from - when an instructor develops a rubric he/she really needs to understand what criteria the instructor wants the student to learn from.
After the rubric is created the instructor also needs to determine how he/she will grade the assignment and provide additional feedback outside of the rubric columns.
Michelle,
The criteria are crucial. We have to make sure the students understand what they are striving for and we have to make sure the rubrics are tied to the learning outcomes. Nice job.
I totally agree with you. If we are using a really well laid out rubric, students will complain and moan that they didn't know what was expected of them and they were graded a certain way because of a popularity contest. This nips it all in the bud, if well designed.
Kathy,
The key is a well-designed rubric. We, as online instructors, need to be careful about developing the points or percentages for each category and making sure the criteria match up well with the learning outcomes. Thanks!
Common mistakes - trying to be very detailed - and ending up with too much criteria - it is not only visually overwhelming but can end up confusing to the online student.
And not relating the rubric back to the course's learning objectives and outcomes - this is demotivating for the student.
Betsy,
Yes, that is true. When the rubrics are not clear, they can cause more confusion than help. As we set up the criteria and connect them to the objectives, they will benefit the students better. Thanks!
When I have done my rubrics I have found that my mistake is when I am not clear cut. I have found many questions from students when they have project and don't understand exactly what i'm going to be grading on. I have taken suggestions from my students in the past to make sure I am more clear...
for example project is 75 pts I will break out each section into a point system so they understand it.
It is important to consider all students strengths and weaknesses also when designing a rubric to make it fair in overall grading to include the whole class
Carolyn,
That's a good clue that something needs to be revised when students are confused. This in itself is great feedback. Thanks for adding to the conversation about rubrics.
Rebecca,
Sure - we all have different strengths and weaknesses and I like to leave room for creativity. All that must be taken into consideration, but we must also keep the learning outcomes in the forefront of our minds. Thanks!
I would say a common mistake when creating a rubric is that the content/coverage in the rubric is not detailed enough or does not align accurately with an assignments instructions. Student's may feel that they covered all the assignments content but then their grade shows otherwise. Student's need a detailed rubric that aligns with assignment instructions so they have a clear understanding of what they need in order to successfully complete the assignment.
It is very important to not be too generic when creating rubrics. When providing feedback to students, I like to be as specific as possible with what they need to work on for the future assignments.
Christina,
Your right. The alignment is key in the development of the rubric. The alignment with the learning objectives is key as well.
Thanks!
Patrice,
Yes, if it's too generic, the students may be confused on the expectations and how they will be evaluated. Thanks!
Over simplify rubrics are a problem as is recycling rubrics that do not address a new/different subject. not applying several levels of criteria when designing a rubric can be a problem as well.
William,
Definitely. You can't simply recycle one rubric for many assignments or subjects. We have to align them with the objectives and "tweak" them accordingly. Thanks!
One thing that I have noticed in the past is that some of the rubrics are not clear and concise. In addition, in an online setting using rubrics are necessary, but we have to make sure to avoid the mistakes. From past experiences, I have seen rubrics that have a range of numbers in the heading for what a student can obtain in that section. When this happens, it causes confusion as you have to explain to the students why they did not gain the highest score in the column. If the rubric only had one number in that section, then it would be easier to grade and clearer to the student. In addition to this, another mistake that I have noticed is having to many items that you are grading the student one. When developing a rubric, you should focus on the most important elements so that it is understandable what you are looking for and what is important.
