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Assessment Tools

Rubric Building

A rubric is an authentic assessment tool used to measure students' work. Generally speaking, it is a scheme for classifying products or behaviors into categories along a continuum. They can be used to classify any product or behavior, including essays, research reports, portfolios, works of art, recitals, oral presentations, performances, etc. Rubrics are extremely useful in providing formative feedback to students, to grade students, and to assess courses and programs. It is a scoring guide that seeks to evaluate a student's performance based on the sum of a full range of criteria rather than a single numerical score. A rubric is a working guide for students and teachers, usually handed out before the assignment begins in order to get students to think about the criteria on which their work will be judged. Additional tools like rubric generators , compilation rubric packet, and even a sample from a Pepperdine dissertation portfolio assessment are available.
 

Rubrics have multiple strengths:

  1. Complex products or behaviors can be examined efficiently
  2. Developed rubrics help to precisely define expectations
  3. Rubrics are based on criteria (as opposed to norms/comparisons to the larger group)
  4. Ratings can be done by students to assess their own work, or they can be done by others (peers, fieldwork supervisors, or faculty)
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LEARNING OUTCOMES

Assessment vs. Grading

Rubrics are most useful for assessing learning outcomes. Grading and assessing can be done at the same time as long as the assessment findings are separated from grading criteria that do not relate to the learning outcome. Rubrics can:
  1. Speed up grading
  2. Provide routine formative feedback to students
  3. Clarify expectations so that students can display what you want them to demonstrate
  4. Reduce student grade complaints
  5. Improve the reliability and validity of assessments and grades
  6. Make grading and assessment more efficient

Sample analytic rubric

Rubrics can be used for assessment and grading by simply assigning points to the categories. Below are sample analytic rubric with three dimensions for assessing oral presentation skills and a second example for use of the rubric when adapted for grading:

Example - The following rubrics take course learning outcomes (CLO) about oral presentations and assesses the student's work.

  Below Expectation Satisfactory Exemplary
CLO about Organization No apparent organization. Evidence is not used to support assertions. The presentation has a focus and provides some evidence to support conclusions The presentation is carefully organized and provides convincing evidence
CLO about Content The content is inaccurate or overly general. Listeners are unlikely to learn anything or may be misled. The content is generally accurate, but incomplete. Listeners may learn some isolated facts, but they are unlikely to gain new insights about the topic. The content is accurate and complete. Listeners are likely to gain new insights about the topic.
CLO about Delivery The speaker appears anxious and uncomfortable, and reads notes, rather than speaks. Listeners are largely ignored. The speaker is generally relaxed and comfortable, but too often relies on notes. Listeners are sometimes ignored or misunderstood. The speaker is relaxed and comfortable, speaks without undue reliance on notes, and interacts effectively with listeners.

Example - assess oral presentation skills when adapted for grading

  Below Expectation Satisfactory Exemplary Score
CLO about Organization No apparent organization. Evidence is not used to support assertions.
(0-4) 		The presentation has a focus and provides some evidence to support conclusions
(5-6) 		The presentation is carefully organized and provides convincing evidence
(7-8) 		 
CLO about Content The content is inaccurate or overly general. Listeners are unlikely to learn anything or may be misled.
(0-8) 		The content is generally accurate, but incomplete. Listeners may learn some isolated facts, but they are unlikely to gain new insights about the topic.
(9-11) 		The content is accurate and complete. Listeners are likely to gain new insights about the topic.
(12-13) 		 
CLO about Delivery The speaker appears anxious and uncomfortable, and reads notes, rather than speaks. Listeners are largely ignored.
(0-5) 		The speaker is generally relaxed and comfortable, but too often relies on notes. Listeners are sometimes ignored or misunderstood.
(6-7) 		The speaker is relaxed and comfortable, speaks without undue reliance on notes, and interacts effectively with listeners.
(8-9) 		 
Total Score