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Using Rubrics to Evaluate Student Work and Build Faculty Presence

Rubrics frequently supplement forms of assessment and are used to evaluate student work and learning. They can be used for projects, presentations, discussions, and writing assignments. Learners can view the criteria on which they are being assessed and can work towards meeting the stated expectations. For instance, it is common to include a rubric for online discussion forums so that learners have a clear idea of the criteria that will be used for grading (i.e. relevance of content, ties to classwork, etc.).  

While most people think of rubrics only as a way to evaluate student work, they are also an excellent way to provide feedback and be ‘present’ in a course. Feedback on a rubric, or otherwise, doesn’t have to be just through written means, as audio and video feedback have also been found to be effective and highly engage students (Cann, 2014).   

  • Wyss and colleagues (2014) found that the students who had access to a rubric in their online course had statistically significant better performance and grades than those who didn’t.
  • According to Wherley and Robinson’s work (2020), rubrics can create opportunities for more interactive forms of assessment.
  • Rubrics provide opportunities for instructors to be present in a course and interact with students in a personal way.
Example Rubric

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See it in Practice

In GEOG 438W: Human Dimensions of Global Warming, rubrics are used not only to evaluate student work but are employed as a tool for fostering a feedback cycle focused on reflection and inquiry. In addition to a draft of their paper, students are asked to submit a marked copy of the assignment rubric, which is casual in tone and student-centered, to show how they think they’ve done with their writing. The instructor then marks the rubric as well, and a conversation follows, as the completed rubric provides a good picture of the differences between student and instructor evaluations. According to Wherley & Robinson (2020), This activity offers “…the potential to increase feelings of student agency and motivation, and enhances the quality of learning in this course. Furthermore, students’ practice with these self-reflective and metacognitive skills will serve them in future work in and outside of the classroom.” Rubrics for GEOG 438W were made in Microsoft Word.

The following rubric was used by a student to self-assess his/her work on Essay 1 and was turned in along with Essay 1. Instructor use of the rubric was done during grading, and instructor comments, below the rubric, were provided at that time as well.

Student: Please highlight the statement in each row which best describes your assessment of your work. The instructor will color the box in each row which best describes the instructor’s assessment of your work.

Criteria Exceptional Very Good Adequate Inadequate Incomplete/ Incorrect
Answers all facets of the question thoroughly. Yes! I think I answered this question correctly and thoroughly! I feel like I've covered most of the facets of the question but maybe I left out some minor details. I've answered the question with some detail, but maybe it's not enough? I don't think I answered the question thoroughly enough. Maybe I just didn't know the answer well enough or maybe I went off on a tangent. I think I missed the boat on this one. I'm not sure I answered this question correctly or completely.
Demonstrates genuine understanding of the human dimensions of climate change in the conext of the question and relates the physical sciences to the human causes, impacrts, and/or responses as appropriate. I feel confident in how I was able to talk to the human dimensions of the issues in this question. I'm connecting the dots! I made some good connections between the human dimensions and the physical science based on the question, but I think I probably missed some minor details along the way. I connected the human dimensions to the physical science, but I'm not sure I've done it quite as thoroughly as I could have. I struggled to connect the human dimensions to the physical science, I need to think more about how to connect these dots for next time. I don't know that I've made any compelling connections between human dimensions and the physical sciences.
Supports answers effectively and appropriately with contemporary scholarly and relevant evidence. Integrates cited material into student's own writing effectively and eloquently I have wowed the instructor with data and evidence! I've justified my position solidly with credible evidence. I'm feeling pretty good about my evidence supporting my position, but there might be a few spots that could use a bit more support. I've supported statements throughout, but I'm not sure this is enough to be a strongly supported position on this issue. I need to work on this for next time. I don't really know how/when/where to integrate support. I haven't supported my answers with evidence from outside sources at all, I've just made my statements and let them stand on their own.
Composes well-structured and organized writing that demonstrates careful editorial review and exhibits organized paragraphs, appropriate grammar, and good writing style. Submission is written in appropriate style and format for intended audience as assigned. Wow! I wrote this? I'm a better writer than I imagined! I think this is well-written and it turns out proofreading really does help!? This is really good! I'm proud of this and know that if I had a bit more time, I could tweak it to be even better. Not bad. I'm pretty proud of this writing, but I think I've got a lot to learn still about organizing my thoughts and conveying them clearly. Well…I tried. But the things that made sense in my head didn't come out as clearly as I hoped when I tried to write the essay. This is not a shining example of the writing I know I can do. Whether I faltered on time management or just struggle to write, I know that I need to work harder for next time to get my writing in shape.
Implements all formatting requirements correctly and includes an edited draft with the final essay submission. Nailed it! I feel confident I got the formatting right. I think I've gotten most of the formatting correct, but there were a few things I wasn't sure about. I've attempted to get the formatting right, but I don't think it's quite what it needs to be. I need to work harder on formatting for the next exam. I haven't gotten many of the requirements correct. Formatting requirements? Uh-oh.

 

Hi [Student],

Please consider the comments provided here in conjunction with the rubric above and my edited markup of your Essay 1 submission.

I'd like to highlight some things you've done really well (glow!) and some things to work on for next time (grow!).

Glow: You have done very well organizing your thoughts and thoroughly answering the question, and with some minor tweaking of your intro and conclusion, you'll be in excellent shape in this department (see my edited markup of your essay). Overall, the writing itself is clear, and I can see that you've edited for grammatical and other issues – good work!

Grow: Please spend some time reviewing the formatting requirements for assignments in this course – losing points in this area is preventable. The biggest issue by far to work on is that this response doesn't use any supporting evidence to justify the claims you're making about economic growth, population growth, and personal vehicle use patterns in the US and Italy. Many of your statements were super general, and I can’t see that they were researched much at all. There are no numbers to support economic indicators of vehicle ownership, and neither of these countries is growing rapidly enough population-wise to support the connection you're trying to make there. I'm concerned about this aspect in particular because it's really important to substantiate your position with evidence to make it compelling, and I see on our rubric here that this is something you felt like you had done really well with for this essay. Please review our writing workshop page on supporting statements with evidence and let me know if you have additional questions.

Instructor

Example Rubric.pdf

Considerations

This activity can be used online or in resident or hybrid courses and can be added to an LMS such as Canvas or Blackboard. The tables must be accessible with a proper caption and headings.

Related Examples

Canvas

Contributor(s)

References/Resources

  • Cann, A. (2014). Engaging students with audio feedback. Bioscience Education, 22(1), 31-41. doi:10.11120/beej.2014.00027
  • Wherley, M., & Robinson, B. (2020). Disrupt the one-way street of feedback to encourage reflective practice. In A. deNoyelles, A. Albrecht, S. Bauer, & S. Wyatt (Eds.), Teaching online pedagogical repository. Orlando, FL: University of Central Florida Center for Distributed Learning. https://topr.online.ucf.edu/disrupt-the-one-way-street-of-feedback-to-encourage-reflective-practice/.
  • Wyss, B. V. L., Freedman, D., & Siebert, C. J. (2014). The Development of a Discussion Rubric for Online Courses: Standardizing Expectations of Graduate Students in Online Scholarly Discussions. TechTrends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning, 58(2), 99–107. 

Contributor(s)