Lesson 4: Grading and Feedback

Rubrics are a grading and feedback tool that specifies the assessment criteria and level of achievement of an assessment (Cockett & Jackson, 2018; Reddy & Andrade, 2010). Rubrics can reduce grading and feedback time and ensure shared expectations.

Strategies for using rubrics:

• Share rubrics with students early to communicate assessment expectations and help motivate students. Have a discussion with students to answer questions and make any clarifications.
• When integrating alternative assessments, rubrics will help you define and communicate assessment criteria, especially for complex assessments that promote deep learning such as research papers, online discussions, infographics, group work, and ePortfolios.
• Include common feedback so you do not have to repeatedly write the same comments for individual students.
• For large classes, rubrics can streamline grading and feedback time and also reduce the number of questions about grades and feedback.
• Use rubrics to encourage students to assess their own academic growth over time.
• Meet with TAs and practice grading a few assessments to ensure consistent scoring between TAs and the instructor.

Activity - Design a rubric

1. Decide on the purpose of the assessment to help choose the type of rubric and how it will be used.
2. Identify the learning outcomes the rubric will be assessing. Use the learning outcomes to write the rubric criteria.
3. Identify the level of proficiency for each criterion. For an analytical rubric generally have 3-5 levels of proficiency.
   You can weight each criterion to reflect the purpose of the assessment.
4. Draft descriptors for each level of proficiency to distinguish performance levels.
5. Create the rubric  in D2L/Brightspace or create it as a table in an electronic document.

References:

Ambrose, S.A., Bridges, M.W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M.C., Norman, M.K., 2010. How Learning Works, Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Baleni, Z. W. (2015). Online formative assessment in higher education: its pros and cons. Electronic Journal of E-Learning, 13(4), 228-236.

Boud, D., & Falchikov, N. (2006). Aligning assessment with long-term learning. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(4), 399–413.

Brown, B. (2019, May 15). One take productions for student feedback. Ed Can Network. https://www.edcan.ca/articles/student-feedback/

Cockett, A., & Jackson, C. (2018). The use of assessment rubrics to enhance feedback in higher education: An integrative literature review. Nurse Education Today, 69, 8-13

Evans, C. (2013). Making sense of assessment feedback in higher education. Review of Educational Research, 83, 70–120. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/ 0034654312474350.

Gonzalez, J. (2014). Know your terms: holistic, analytic, and single-point rubrics. Cult of Pedagogy. Retrieved from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/holistic-analytic-single-point-rubrics/

Pereira, D., Flores, M.A., Simão, A.M.V., & Barros, A. (2016). Effectiveness and relevance of feedback in Higher Education: A study of undergraduate students. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 49, 7 – 14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2016.03.004

Reddy, Y. M., & Andrade, H. (2010). A review of rubric use in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(4), 435-448, DOI: 10.1080/02602930902862859

• Consider the role of feedback in student learning and engagement

• Apply online grading strategies to collect and grade student work.

• View rubric examples and identify how to best use rubrics for online grading and feedback

• Create a rubric for an online assessment