As we begin a new semester, it seems timely to think about some of the benefits of using rubrics for marking, and sharing rubric marking criteria and feedback with students.
What is a rubric?
Rubrics are used to evaluate an assignment or activity based on a predefined set of criteria. They help ensure that assignments are evaluated fairly and consistently.
Essentially, a rubric provides marking guidelines to use to evaluate a piece of student’s work. It can also further support learning by providing students with feedback and feedforward comments where improvements can been made.
Have you used rubrics in Brightspace yet?
BU Generic Assessment Criteria L4 example
The majority of assignments will be submitted via Turnitin so most staff will use Turnitin’s inbuilt rubric tool. For large or multiple file submissions you can use Brightspace’s rubric tool.
What are the benefits for Staff?
Rubrics work well when you have a large cohort of students, as they allow for consistent, objective, and efficient assessing of work. You can utilise the BU generic assessment criteria for each level, or make a copy of these templates and edit and refine them to create a rubric more specific to your assessment.
A rubric can also be set up with weightings, allowing the system to provide an estimated grade, based on the scale setting you have applied when marking the piece of work. Note that the final grade awarded will still be your decision.
What are the benefits for students?
Rubrics can be shared with students prior to their assignment submission, so that they can use them as a guide to the objectives that need to be met for their assessment and so help them achieve a good grade.
After work has been marked and grades and feedback released, the completed rubric can be shared with students so they have transparency of the marking and can easily view their feedback and feedforward.
Further help
Further support and guidance is available on the Brightspace Staff Resources area:
If you would like any further help creating and setting up rubrics, contact your Faculty Learning Technologist.
