by Chris Wilson
Ph.D. Student, University of Florida

In this post, I’m sharing a summary of our discussion from my teaching presentation on evaluating student assignments using rubrics.

A rubric is an assessment tool that breaks an assignment into its component parts and defines specific criteria to evaluate a student’s level of performance.

A rubric consists of three basic elements:

1. The traits or dimensions that identify the skills and knowledge required to complete the assignment.
2. A scale that indicates the different levels of performance for the assignment.
3. Descriptions of each trait at each level of performance. However, in some rubrics only a description of the highest level of achievement is included.

Rubrics offer a number of advantages to teachers and students:

1. Rubrics allow busy professors to provide timely feedback to students.
2. Rubrics prepare students to use teacher feedback to improve on future assignments by allowing them to compare their level of performance with the ideal.
3. Rubrics encourage students to think critically about the quality of their own work.
4. Rubrics facilitate communication with other graders and teachers, as well as student service personnel who may be helping students to complete their assignments.
5. Rubrics allow teachers to evaluate their own teaching by revealing areas of strength and weakness in student assignments.
6. Rubrics can level the playing field for students of all races, languages, etc., by fostering a dialogue about expectations between teachers and their students.

Continue reading →