Category Archives: Rubric Book reviews

Complete Rubrics, the final chapters

Of rubrics, Rubric Book reviews

Quinlan, Audrey M. A Complete Guide to Rubrics: Assessment Made Easy for Teachers, K-College. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006. Print.

 

 

Chapters 10-12: These chapters deal with many of the concepts I learned from Introduction to Rubrics, so I’ll just summarize the information and give interesting ideas. The last two chapters deal with report cards and websites/resources, so I’ll skip those.

 

Chapter 10: How to Create your Own Rubrics.

 

Quinlan uses methods very similar to the Intro to Rubrics book in this chapter. She asks rubric creators to follow ten steps:

 

  1. 1.       Focus on clear outcomes
  2. 2.       List three or four critical attributes of the performance/project.
  3. 3.       Describe the expected qualities or attributes—the standard.
  4. 4.       Develop statements that describe or define those qualities of performance short of expectation and beyond expectations.
  5. 5.       Decide if the rubric will be analytic or holistic.
  6. 6.       Research other rubrics.
  7. 7.       Evaluate—Present the rubric to colleagues and students for  input.
  8. 8.       Do a practice test or a dry run if possible.
  9. 9.       Revise as needed.
  10. 10.   Share information. (Quinlan 168, Box 10.1)

 

 

Most of these steps have already been covered. I do like the idea of doing a practice run, but most likely the practice run would be the first time one uses the rubric in an assignment. As most instructors know, that’s the real test of any assignment or assessment.

 

 

Chapter 11: Student-Generated Rubrics

 

In this chapter Quinlan spends a good amount of time talking about student centered or learning centered teaching. Involving students in rubric creation really puts the students in the center of their own learning. She, too, suggests the four by four method for having students create rubrics. She also gives some useful suggestions about how to teach students about rubrics—from a basic elementary level to college classes. I definitely plan to try a student generated rubric in my comp 1 class this fall.

 

Chapter 12: Teaching Others to Use Rubrics

 

In this chapter, Quinlan gives some very clever ideas of how to teach teachers to use rubrics. Her main suggestions for those new to rubrics are:

 

  • Begin with a familiar activity or project.
  • Research sample rubrics.
  • Don’t expect perfection.
  • Begin with the standard or benchmark and then describe work beyond and below that standard.
  • Don’t try to assess everything in one assignment.
  • Work with peers.
  • Get student input. (Quinlan, 193, Box 12.1).

 

 

Then Quinlan describes several models to illustrate rubric creation from the restaurant model to the potato chip model to the clean room rubric.

Complete Rubrics: Rubrics for Online Activities

Of rubrics, Rubric Book reviews

Quinlan, Audrey M. A Complete Guide to Rubrics: Assessment Made Easy for Teachers, K-College. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006. Print.

 

 

Chapter 9: Rubrics for Online Activities

 

Chapter 8 deals with using rubrics for computer products, so I didn’t think that was too relevant to my discussions. However, Chapter 9 looks at many ways an instructor can and should use rubrics for online activities.  At first, I thought this really wouldn’t be any different from using rubrics in any other assignments, but Quinlan gives some excellent examples and rationale for creating rubrics for online assignments. Partly because students use the internet so much and because they are often advanced in their skills—even beyond the instructor’s technology skills, students may find rubrics help guide them in their use of technology (147-48).

 

Quinlan spends the first part of the chapter talking about digital plagiarism and gives some examples of simple rubrics that can be used to teach students ethical rules and guide their use of source  material online. Then she gives some great example of using rubrics to assess the information on the internet, to evaluate sources. I will definitely use these ideas in my comp II classes. Interestingly, most of her examples are rubrics that teachers can use to assess technology (how an instructor can evaluate a website, for example, and see if it’s appropriate for the grade level, assignment, etc.). However, I can see using these kinds of simple rubrics to have students evaluate their online sources too.

 

Quinlan then gives some examples of how to use rubrics to assess chat rooms, threaded discussions, and even blogs. Great examples and ideas! I like the way she is using rubrics to help teachers evaluate and improve their own resources and lessons. She does give some good examples, too, of how to use these to assess student works too—like criteria for blogging. I would like to create something like this for my journal assignment in creative writing—where students can use a blog or handwritten or typed journal. Often students flounder a bit on how to complete this assignment. A rubric might help.

Complete Rubrics, Chapter 7: Adult Learners

Of rubrics, Rubric Book reviews

Quinlan, Audrey M. A Complete Guide to Rubrics: Assessment Made Easy for Teachers, K-College. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006. Print.

 

 

Chapter 7: Rubrics with Adult Learners

 

Quinlan begins this chapter with a discussion of adult learner stages. Most post-secondary students are in Erickson’s early Adulthood (19-40) stage, which means their main conflict centers around intimacy versus isolation, “which means that they will either be able to form meaningful relations with others or remain self-absorbed” (100).  Some of our students may be in middle or even late adulthood, and they deal with generativity versus stagnation or ego integrity versus despair respectively (100).  Quinlan also talks about the difference between pedagogy and andragogy (teaching adults). Basically, andragogy focuses more on independent learning and using the students’ wealth of knowledge and experience more in the learning experiences (101). 

 

Quinlan gives Mark Tennant’s book Psychology and Adult Learning (1997) as a resource for recommendations for teaching adult learners. According to Tennant, adult educators need to:

 

  • Value the experience of the learners
  • Engage in reflection of the learners’ experiences.
  • Establish the environment or spirit of a community of learners.
  • Empower the students.
  • Assess each student as an individual.
  • Encourage learner to discuss conflicting points of view.
  • Help students to identify the social, historical, and cultural bases for their experiences.
  • Encourage a wiliness to make changes based on learning experiences. (102)

 

These characteristics are pretty clear to those of us who teach college, especially non-traditional learners who don’t need lecture and direction as much as guidance and information.

 

Quinlan then goes into a discussion about grading and about grade inflation, wondering if professors don’t spend enough time grading—or at least enough time communicating their grade decisions to students. Rubrics are, of course, the answer to communicating grades clearly and as objectively as possible (103-06).

 

The rest of the chapter gives numerous examples of rubrics that are or can be used in post-secondary work, from research papers and dramatic performances to instructor evaluations and self-assessments for classroom lessons and preparedness.

Complete Rubrics, Chapter 6

Of rubrics, Rubric Book reviews

Quinlan, Audrey M. A Complete Guide to Rubrics: Assessment Made Easy for Teachers, K-College. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006. Print.

 

 

Chapter 6: Using Rubrics in High School

 

Chapters 3-5 deal mostly with using rubrics in elementary and middle school. Although some of the ideaa apply to any rubric making, most of the content is specific to K-8 and not relevant to my studies. However, I did learn, through Quinlan’s explanation of developmental stages, that my five and a half year old’s obsession with being first (at everything including eating her oatmeal and getting to the bathroom) is completely on track from a developmental point of view. Evidently wanting to cheat at games and interrupting are part of this lovely social developmental stage. My favorite story in chapter 3 echoes my own experiences being the parent of a kindergartener:

 

“Parents of a precocious 6-year-old were concerned to see this comment on their son’s otherwise excellent report card: ‘Talks! Talks! Talks!’ The teacher should have added, ‘normal, normal, normal’”(39).

 

In all seriousness, though, thinking about social, physical, and cognitive development at any age is useful when planning lessons and, even more so in an environment with multiple ages present, in dealing with individual students.

 

In Chapter Six, Quinlan discusses the developmental stages of high school age students, noting that many vary in their placement. However, in general 14-17 year olds are moving toward adulthood and are concerned with what they will become (78). Since our college has a fair number of PSEO (Post Secondary Enrollment Option) students or High School Honors students who are still 16-17, I thought this chapter was worth reading.  It seems 16-17 year-olds still primarily use concrete thinking instead of operational thinking. Practically, this means high school students may struggle more with abstract thinking or problem solving (80). Their social lives are still more important than their academic pursuits, but they are learning to set goals, see others’ perspectives, and understand their own minds more (80-81). I can see using this chapter as a reference since I have many high school students who take my classes, especially Creative Writing.   In the rest of the chapter, Quinlan gives examples of how rubrics may be used in high school assignments, even giving an example of how the writing portion of the SAT uses a 6 point rubric to assess competency. She also gives examples of how to use a rubric to assess group projects and tailor both the assignment and the rubric to help students succeed in their strengths while holding them accountable for participating in the group.

Complete Rubrics: Chapter Two

Documents, Of rubrics, Resources, Rubric Book reviews

Quinlan, Audrey M. A Complete Guide to Rubrics: Assessment Made Easy for Teachers, K-College. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006. Print.

 

 

Chapter Two: Checklists, Performance Lists, or Rubrics

 

 In this chapter Quinlan talks about how rubrics aren’t right for every assignment or for all parts of all assignments at least. She starts the chapter talking about the three kinds of learning objectives: “cognitive (information and knowledge), psychomotor (physical actions), or affective (attitudes)” (17).  She discusses Bloom’s taxonomy and its relation to cognitive objectives. She gives a nice chart on pages 18-19 that breaks down Bloom’s categories and gives instructional objectives and verbs for each category: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. I did a quick search and found another page from Clemson University that includes similar information: http://www.clemson.edu/assessment/assessmentpractices/referencematerials/documents/Blooms%20Taxonomy%20Action%20Verbs.pdf

 

Psychomotor learning objective include anything that students must physically complete, from handwriting to archery to lab experiments to building robots. Quinlan cites Heinich, Molenda, and Russell to describe “four levels of the psychomotor objectives: imitation, manipulation, precision, and articulation” (17). 

 

Affective learning objectives include attitudes and feelings about learning, which have to be evaluated by self -disclosure or through observation, so they are often “the most difficult to measure and evaluate” (17).

 

Quinlan next discusses using simple checklists to measure any of these kinds of learning objectives whether it’s completing a map or learning to spike a volleyball or even enjoying an activity (uses terms like “volunteers, joins in, cooperates, enjoys” (20). I can imagine using a checklist for group projects in my Comp I class or for the parts of the research paper in Comp II (instead of a multi-part rubric).

 

Here is an example of how I might use a checklist:

 

Checklist for College Composition II research paper

 

____ Brainstorming idea with class group

 

____Summary One

 

____Summary Two

 

____Topic selected and approved

 

____Outline and planning completed

 

____ Initial research completed

 

____Draft of paper completed

 

____Peer review of group drafts completed

 

____Grading conference with instructor completed

 

____Revision of paper into final draft completed

 

____Evaluative paper completed

 

 

 

This kind of checklist would be useful for the student and the instructor, to keep the student on task and for the instructor to have one clear sheet with the student’s progress.

 

Next Quinlan talks about using an expanded checklist to do simple evaluation of parts of a tasks, using perhaps a check, minus, plus sign system to show students how well they completed the parts of the checklist. Again, I can see this being useful in a large individual or group project where not every part is graded individually.

 

The next type of tool discussed is a performance list, which uses a checklist format but assigns points to each task.

 

I could use a performance list for my group grammar presentations. One might look like this:

 

Group Grammar Presentations

100 points

 

Group Participation (25 points—5 points each)

 

___ Took a clear role in the group

 

___Completed a fair share of the work

 

___Got along with members (avoided or dealt with conflict)

 

___Communicated with members effectively

 

___Attended regular group meetings

 

 

Grammar Knowledge (50 points—10 points each)

 

____ summarized grammar concepts

 

____identified important terms accurately

 

____produced several original examples of each error

 

____corrected example errors accurately

____ answered any questions accurately and thoroughly

 

Presentation Skills (25 points—5 points each)

 

____ involved audience in presentation

 

___ Created an organized and visually appealing display

 

___Spoke clearly and loud enough

 

___Made eye contact with audience

 

___Displayed use of professionalism and standard English usage

 

 

Finally, Quinlan moves on to using rubrics. First, she explains the advantages to rubrics: they provide clear expectations, they let students know the benchmarks of the assignments, they let student see themselves in relation to clear objectives, they create more fairness and consistency in grading, and they “provide teachers with data to support grades” (26).

 

Quinlan talks about both 4 point or 6 point and holistic or analytic rubrics.   

 

 In a four point rubric, #4 would be “exemplary performance;” #3 would be “proficient…[s]olid performance or understanding;” #2 would be “partial understanding…emerging or developing; makes errors;” #1 would be “minimal understanding…has serious errors or misconceptions;” and 0 would be “[n]o attempt made” (27). In a 4 point rubric, a 3 is the “standard” (27).

 

In a 6 point rubric, the levels are: 6= “Exemplary achievement ;” 5= “Commendable achievement;” 4= “Adequate achievement;” 3= “Some evidence of achievement;” 2= “Limited evidence of achievement;” 1= “Minimal evidence of achievement;” and 0= “No response” (27). In a 4 point rubric, a 5 is the “standard” (27).

 

In a holistic rubric, the instructor includes all components or dimensions of an assignment in one category and assesses them together.

 

For example, for a general writing assignment that any instructor might assign, a simple 4 point rubric could be done holistically as follows:

 

4 points (exemplary)

 

Focus: has a clear focused thesis that is specific, original, and appropriate

Organization: has clear and developed paragraphs with specific topic sentences that relate to thesis

Content: uses specific examples or support for thesis and ideas

Style: uses appropriate and professional words and varies sentences

Grammar: adheres to Standard English conventions and has few or no errors

 

3 points (competent)

 

Focus: has a clear focus for the paper

Organization: has clear paragraphs that relate to thesis

Content: supports thesis

Style: uses clear appropriate language

Grammar: adheres to Standard English conventions with only slight errors that do not hinder communication

 

2 points (developing)

 

Focus: focus for the paper may be unclear or change

Organization: paragraphs may not relate to thesis or be clearly focused

Content: has some support but needs more to develop the thesis

Style: may use some inappropriate or inconsistent words or sentences

Grammar: has some errors in Standard English usage that may interfere with communication

 

1 point (unsatisfactory)

 

Focus: no clear focus for the paper

Organization: no clear paragraphs or no connection between paragraphs and thesis

Content: thesis is unsupported

Style: inappropriate or inconsistent words or sentences primarily used

Grammar: many errors in Standard English that interfere with communication

 

0 points

Did not complete

 

Although I can see the usefulness of this kind of rubric, the problem is that it doesn’t tell a student why he or she specifically received a 4 or a 2. Often a student may do well in organization, for example, but poorly in support and grammar.

 

The analytic rubric lets the instructor break down the points more specifically. For example, the rubric would be broken down into its dimension, like this:

 

Focus

 

4. has a clear focused thesis that is specific, original, and appropriate

3. has a clear focus for the paper

2. focus for the paper may be unclear or change

1. no clear focus for the paper

0. no attempt

 

 

This is much more like the rubrics displayed in the Introduction to Rubrics book-which I think are most useful.

 

A Complete Guide to Rubrics, Chapter One

Of rubrics, Rubric Book reviews

Quinlan, Audrey M. A Complete Guide to Rubrics: Assessment Made Easy for Teachers, K-College. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006. Print.

  

Chapter One: Background: What is a Rubric and Why Bother?

 Like the Introduction to Rubrics book, this text begins with creating a need for rubrics, especially in subjective grading matters like papers or presentations. The author uses the idea that teachers, especially teachers who have been teaching and grading a long time, instinctively know what grade an assignment deserves by looking at the assignment. In some ways, I think this is true. I tend to be a holistic grader and I do usually know a clear A, B, C or F paper. However, assignments aren’t always that clear either. It’s the B+/A- papers or the D papers that can still stump me at times even after 18 years of grading student essays. Of course, the main problem with instinctual or holistic grading is communicating the grade clearly to the students and making comments useful so the student can improve performance.  I agree with this. Even though I may write extensive comments on a paper, I still have students quibble over the 88/100 grade at times (although not as often as they probably should).  Using rubrics would communicate much more specifically why the student received the 88%.  I have to say that I’m already pretty sold on rubrics, but this book has given me even more reasons.

 

The author talks about theories in educational development and shows how rubrics can be useful no matter what kinds of learning theories an educators adheres to.

 

On pages 9-11, Quinlan breaks down 10 learning theories and how rubrics can be used effectively within their frameworks.  

 

  • For Vygotsky’s Constructivism theory, “[s]coring and instructional rubrics provide for both [actual achievement and zone of proximal] levels of achievement” (9).

 

  • For Skinner’s Behaviorism theory, “[r]ubrics can be designed with memorization tasks, but are not usually necessary. Rubrics can be used to help in the development of test items” (9).

 

  • For Piaget’s Development Theory, “[r]ubrics provide for individuality” (9).

 

  •  For Brain-Based Learning theories (Sylwester; Jensen), “[s]tudent generated rubrics can reduce anxiety” (9).

 

  • To address different learning styles (Kolb), “[r]ubrics—with student input—are perfect for all four styles and can provide for a variety of criteria” (10).

 

  • For Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences theory, “[r]ubrics are supportive of student self-assessment in a variety of activities” (10).

 

  • For Right Brain/Left Brain learning theory (Sperry), “[r]ubrics are used to assess subjective, qualitative work” (10).

 

  • For the Communities of Practice theory (J Dewey), “[r]ubrics can be created for labs and other hands-on assignments, especially for cooperative group projects” (10-11).

 

  • For Glasser’s Control Theory,”’ [b]enchmarks’ of scoring rubrics provide the absolute standard” (11).

 

  • For Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, “[r]ubrics provide the model of excellence and provide assessment of creativity” (11).

 

I thought that this connection between learning theories and rubrics was useful. Quinlan gives specific ideas of how to use assessments and rubrics to match almost anyone’s ideas about learning and growth.

Intro to Rubrics, Chapter 7 and final summary

Of rubrics, Rubric Book reviews

Introduction to Rubrics, Chapter Seven: Variations on a Theme and overall reflections of this book

 

 

 

In this chapter, the authors give examples and suggestions for using rubrics in specific disciplines and assignments such as in laboratory classes or for large research projects, book reviews, discussions, or portfolios. They give some excellent examples and suggestions on how and why to use rubrics for these purposes. The part I found most useful was the idea of using a staged rubric for research papers. The rubric includes the stages of the project as the dimensions (such as summaries, outline, draft, etc). Then the rubric can be used as the students progress through the different stages of the project, saving time for the instructor and also allowing the student to have all the feedback on the project in one place to review and build on. This staged rubric is something I may try in English 1109 where I have students work on an extensive project throughout the semester.

 

Overall reflections:

 

This book was extremely useful in helping me develop a rubric, especially in understanding how to tie the rubric to course and college outcomes or learning objectives.  I also liked the ideas of how and why to involve students in the process of rubric construction and plan to try that when I return to the classroom.  I would still like more information about the theories of assigning points in a rubric—this book didn’t discuss that controversy much. From what I can see, the authors of this book use rubrics as a grading tool as well as a way to save time and give useful and specific feedback in a variety of ways. I am thankful for their work and the examples and sample they have provided. I think many of my colleagues could benefit from this information as well.

 

 

Intro to Rubrics: Grading

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Introduction to Rubrics, Chapter Six: Grading with Rubrics

 

 

 

In this chapter, the authors discuss several ways that rubrics improve and speed up grading, depending on the type of rubric used. This is the part of the process that I have struggled with and already I have some good ideas about how to improve the use of rubrics. I am interested in learning about how points and grades can and should best be attached to rubrics.

 

The first thing rubrics can do is make grading more consistent and fair. This book calls this establishing “performance anchors” (73). I laughed when the authors talked about the ways we, as graders, get through papers, by giving ourselves treats, by plowing through in marathon sessions without thinking, by counting and dividing classes into sections. I have done all of these things (I’ve even been known to clean the house—a chore I detest—to avoid grading a pile of papers) to make grading papers more manageable, but rubrics might make grading less of a chore if constructed and used well.

 

Probably the most useful aspect of rubrics is “providing detailed, formative feedback” (73). By using the three to five level rubric, instructors can avoid writing the same comments on student assignments over and over (nice introduction, thesis needs to be more specific, passive voice problems, need to tie ideas back to thesis, etc). These elements are already in the rubric, so the instructor can just check or circle them, giving students the same feedback but in a more consistent and organized manner. The authors do discuss two methods of using the three to five level rubric—with check boxes and just circling elements. Although creating the check boxes takes a little more time, it seems more useful and organized. For online grading, instructors could use highlighting instead of circling.

 

Scoring rubrics are also useful and time saving if the students are already pretty proficient in their work. By giving only the highest level of achievement and then room for comments, these scoring rubrics allow students to know the expectations of the assignment and give the instructor opportunity to add individual feedback. However, if the student does have trouble with the final assignment, the scoring rubric doesn’t save much time because the comments are numerous.

 

The last part of rubric use is, of course, grading. The authors discuss the benefits and pitfalls of assigning points to a rubric. They give a great example of a scoring rubric using points, which makes the grade quite clear to the student and makes grading a simple exercise for the instructor. However, they also talk about the problems with assigning points to rubrics –that students may nitpick over the points in a certain section or want to argue their grade more. They make a good point that before using rubrics, most instructors just gave comments and a grade—much less feedback and organization than a rubric. I think that involving students in weighing the dimensions of a rubric could help with this. If students are invested in the process of creating the rubric, they may not challenge it as much. I will have to try a couple of different ways and see what results in the most improvement. I have always been a pretty holistic grader, but sometimes I find it useful to break down the grade more clearly for me and my students. It can depend on the assignment. In my poem assignments in creative writing, I think assigning points will actually make the grading clearer and more fair—same with a major research paper. I’m not so sure about other assignments like composition I papers, especially the final exam. Even if points are not included in the rubric, students and instructors can usually tell the quality of the paper from the number of checks or circles in each level. For example, if the student has many more checks in the “excellent” category than any other, that is clearly an A paper. Same if the most checks are in the middle category, etc.

 

The last part of this chapter talks about a really interesting use of rubrics, one I had not considered: evaluating ourselves as instructors. Examples are given of ways to use a rubric to check how students did on assignments as a class, so instructors can track problems and provide ideas for how to improve performance next time. I’d like to try this—it could really improve how I present assignments in the future. The process involves a simple scoring rubric that checks off how students did in each dimension and element overall. This could be done while grading, and then the results will be done when the grading is done.  Nice idea! The authors also discuss using a “metarubric” (93) to evaluate the rubric itself. Interesting idea if the rubric doesn’t seem to be working, but time consuming otherwise.

 

Based on these ideas, I have revised my poem one rubric to include point values.

 

 

Poem One

 

TASK DESCRIPTION: Length:  At least 10 lines. 

Poem should be typed in word processing program and saved as an RTF (Rich Text Format) file. 

Document should be named: yourlastname_poem1  (for example: swing_poem1)  

Poem should have heading in upper left corner with your name, class, date and the assignment (poem one). Title of the poem should be left-justified before the first line of the poem.

Write a new poem, using at least four of the techniques described in Lesson Six. The poem does not have to rhyme, but it can. 

The poem should include at least four of the following elements:  an end-stopped line, a run-on line, an enjambed line, an original metaphor, an original simile.

 

 

 

DIMENSIONS Excellent Competent Developing Comments and points
 

 

 

Poetic Elements

12 points

 □    Includes the required poetry elements of the assignment (four of the following elements:  an end-stopped line, a run-on line, an enjambed line, an original metaphor, an original simile.)

□    Ideas/themes in the poem are enhanced by the poetic techniques

□    Poem uses grammar and punctuation purposely (if rules of standard written English are not followed, there should be clear poetic reasons)

 

 □    Includes three of the four required poetry elements of the assignment (four of the following elements:  an end-stopped line, a run-on line, an enjambed line, an original metaphor, an original simile.)

□    Ideas/themes in the poem are not clearly enhanced by the poetic techniques; the poetic elements seem used only because the assignment requires them

□    Poem uses grammar and punctuation purposely (if rules of standard written English are not followed, there should be clear poetic reasons) although there may be some small errors in English usage or confusion about the use of grammar, capitalization, or punctuation

 

 □    Does not include all of the required poetry elements of the assignment (four of the following elements:  an end-stopped line, a run-on line, an enjambed line, an original metaphor, an original simile.)

□    Ideas/themes in the poem are not enhanced by the poetic techniques; they do not connect clearly

□    Poem does not use standard English usage at all and there is not clear reason for errors in grammar, spelling or punctuation use

 

  
 

 

Originality

 

6 points

 

 □      Word choices in the poem are original, precise, and thoughtful,

□    Poem shows the author’s style and point of view clearly and in an original manner

□    Poem has a meaningful title

 

 □      Word choices in the poem are clear, but may lack originality or precision

□    Poem has a style and point of view but it may be inconsistent or vague at times

□    Poem has a title, but it may be over general or not contribute to the theme or ideas in the poem clearly

 

 □      Word choices in the poem are clichéd, vague, or seem forced and rushed

□    Poem does not have a clear original style or point of view

□    Poem has no title

 

  
Structure

4 points

 □    Poem has a clear structure, possibly using stanzas or other means (like rhyme) to develop and connect ideas in an organized manner

□    Poem uses line lengths purposefully and consistently to enhance meaning in the poem

□    Poem uses rhythm purposefully and consistently in the poem

 □    Poem has an attempt at structure, but it may be inconsistent to unorganized

□    Poem has clear lines but may have inconsistent line lengths for no clear poetic reasons or the lines may not connect clearly to the ideas in the poem

□    Poem has a rhythm but it is inconsistent and possibly awkward in places

 □    Poem does not have a clear structure or organization

□    The poem’s lines are broken in unclear ways and may create confusion in ideas and theme

□    Poem has awkward and inconsistent rhythm (try reading the poem aloud to hear where the rhythm is awkward or changes unnecessarily )

  
 

Professionalism

3 points

 □    Paper has correct heading and formatting,

□    Poem is submitted in the dropbox correctly (with correct file name and in RTF or Microsoft word formatting)

□    The poem was submitted on time

 

 □    Paper has heading and formatting although there may be some errors

□    Poem is submitted in the dropbox but the file was labeled incorrectly or the file format was not RTF or Microsoft Word

□    The poem was submitted on time

 

 □    Paper has no heading and/or errors in formatting

□    Poem is submitted in the dropbox incorrectly (without correct file name and/or in an unreadable word processing format)

□    The poem was submitted late

 

  
Total Points: 25       Grade:

 

 

Overall Comments:

 

 

 

 

 

Intro to Rubrics: chapters 4 and 5

Documents, Of rubrics, Resources, Rubric Book reviews

Introduction to Rubrics, Chapters Four and Five

 These two chapters discuss using input from others in the construction and revision of rubrics.

 

 Chapter 4: Rubric Construction and the classroom

 In the past, I have used rubrics in classes mostly as a guide to an assignment and as a grading tool. In this chapter, the authors talk about using students more directly to create rubrics or at least using rubrics to gauge the students’ understanding of an assignment.  Involving students in rubric making can give them more ownership in their work and in their grade. I like that idea.

 Five models for student interaction are explained in this chapter. 

  1. The Presentation Model: this is where a rubric is made and presented to students. Students are allowed to ask for questions and clarification, and they can discuss the assignment and the grading. However, no changes are necessarily made to the rubric. In the past, this is the way that I have involved students in my rubric making.  It does usually give me an idea of what parts of the assignment they understand and what I might need to explain or model further.
  2. The Feedback Model: In this model, students are given the rubric, and they can ask questions, suggest changes and clarification, and possibly even have input into how much each dimension is weighted. I like the idea that this can involve students in the process more and make them think about what parts of an assignment are most important. I also like that it can be done in one class period or less.
  3. The Pass-the-Hat Model: in this model, students help create the highest expectations of an assignment based on the assignment description and discussion. Students write one suggestion per piece of paper (of what an A assignment component would be), and then those suggestions are collected in a hat or other (possibly creative) receptacle. The instructor then takes the suggestions and groups them or has students be involved in the grouping or making of dimensions.  The authors say that, although students rarely leave out any crucial element of an assignment, the instructor can always add that in or revise other elements to make the rubric reflect his or her expectations. This method is definitely more time consuming but more interactive too. I can see using it for a first or second paper and then basing other rubrics on the results.
  4. The Post-it™ Model: Like the pass-the-hat model, students write down the elements of an A assignment on Post-it™ notes; then then stick them up around the room. The students are then asked to group the suggestions, creating dimensions. Then the dimensions and elements are put together on a large board and students can discuss the elements, the groupings, and basically get the foundation for the rubric. The instructor then takes the ideas and creates the final rubric outside of class. Although this model is time consuming, I think students would have fun—and be engaged in the process. I would like to try it.
  5. The 4X4 Model: Students are put into groups of four or so and asked to review the assignment. Then each group comes up with four dimensions for the assignment. The groups present their ideas and discuss the similarities and difference in their categories, ultimately voting on the four that will be included. Then the students go back to their groups and write up four levels from 1-4 (one as the lowest) for each dimension. Then the rubrics are presented, discussed, and voted on again. The students may go back to their groups one more time to change the 1-4 levels to words like exemplary, competent, etc. I love this idea, but it would take a significant amount of class time. I can see using it on the major research paper in Comp II or something that takes a huge portion of the class, so students really are a part of the grading model, and they fully understand and agree with the expectations of the assignment.

 

Chapter Five: Rubric Construction with others: teaching assistant, tutors, or colleagues

 T.A.s: Since our two year institutions don’t use teaching assistants, I didn’t spend too much time on this part of the chapter; however, I could see involving student mentors in rubric making or revision. They could help by both giving suggestions and in helping the students in the class understand the rubric.

Learning center tutors: Involving the learning center in rubrics is a great idea—either in the construction or at least in making sure the learning center tutors have copies of the rubrics and helping them understand the expectations and ideas. I definitely plan to give copies of my rubrics to the writing center staff and request that students bring them when they go in to work with tutors.

Colleagues: Through assessment initiatives, I have been involved in grading with a common rubric with other instructors before. It is extremely useful in both being more consistent in grading policies and in discussing ideas. I would like to see if the English department could come up with some standard rubrics to use in our final exit exams in English 0450, 0460, and 1106 and maybe even for a comprehensive research paper for 1109. Even discussing what goes into these rubrics would be useful. I will bring back this idea when I return from my sabbatical. I also want to develop a rubric for the 1106 final exam that I can use that can be used to start the conversation of a common exit exam rubric.

Constructing a Rubric, Stage 4

Of rubrics, Rubric Book reviews

Introduction to Rubrics, Chapter three.

 

Stage4: Application

 

In this stage, the rubric is actually constructed. The authors talk about two different kinds of rubrics that can be made for differing purposes.

 

A scoring guide rubric just lists the highest expectations of an assignment and leaves room for comments. They make the learning objectives and assignment expectations clear, but don’t give specific feedback more quickly to each student so that the student knows what to work on. I can see using a scoring guide rubric for something like online discussion, but not paper assignments.

 

The three-to-five level rubric is the one I think will be most useful. It uses three or five levels of competency and six or less dimensions.  Again, the authors discuss the terminology associated with each level. This is difficult for me. Their suggestions include:  exemplary, competent, beginning; proficient, intermediate, novice; exemplary, competent, not yet competent; excellent, good, developing; or numbering 1,2,3.

 

I think I may use excellent, competent, and developing. Those are good descriptions that don’t have negative connotations.

 

The back of this book gives a website that anyone can use to learn more about rubrics, including samples to use a download.

 

http://www.introductiontorubrics.com/overview.html

 

I used this website to download a framework. With that, I have constructed a first draft of a rubric for my poem one assignment.

 

Interestingly, as I began to construct the rubric, I realized I had left out some crucial elements such as being on time. I also decided to include a new dimension about form and rhythm because I often comment on that in the poems even though it’s not a clear part of the assignment. I will need to revise the assignment description also.

 

 

Poem One

 

TASK DESCRIPTION: Length:  At least 10 lines. 

Poem should be typed in word processing program and saved as an RTF (Rich Text Format) or Microsoft Word file. 

Document should be named: yourlastname_poem1  (for example: swing_poem1)  

Poem should have heading in upper left corner with your name, class, date and the assignment (poem one). An original title for the poem should be left-justified before the first line of the poem.

Write a new poem, using at least four of the techniques described in Lesson Six. The poem does not have to rhyme, but the structure, rhythm, and word choice should be purposeful and clear.  

The poem should include at least four of the following elements:  an end-stopped line, a run-on line, an enjambed line, an original metaphor, an original simile.

 

 

 

DIMENSIONS Excellent Competent Developing
 

 

 

Poetic Elements

 

 □    Includes the required poetry elements of the assignment (four of the following elements:  an end-stopped line, a run-on line, an enjambed line, an original metaphor, an original simile.)

□    Ideas/themes in the poem are enhanced by the poetic techniques

□    Poem uses grammar and punctuation purposely (if rules of standard written English are not followed, there should be clear poetic reasons)

 

 □    Includes three of the four required poetry elements of the assignment (four of the following elements:  an end-stopped line, a run-on line, an enjambed line, an original metaphor, an original simile.)

□    Ideas/themes in the poem are not clearly enhanced by the poetic techniques; the poetic elements seem used only because the assignment requires them

□    Poem uses grammar and punctuation purposely (if rules of standard written English are not followed, there should be clear poetic reasons) although there may be some small errors in English usage or confusion about the use of grammar, capitalization, or punctuation

 

 □    Does not include all of the required poetry elements of the assignment (four of the following elements:  an end-stopped line, a run-on line, an enjambed line, an original metaphor, an original simile.)

□    Ideas/themes in the poem are not enhanced by the poetic techniques; they do not connect clearly

□    Poem does not use standard English usage at all and there is not clear reason for errors in grammar, spelling or punctuation use

 
 

 

Originality

 

 

 

 □      Word choices in the poem are original, precise, and thoughtful,

□    Poem shows the author’s style and point of view clearly and in an original manner

□    Poem has a meaningful title

 

 □      Word choices in the poem are clear, but may lack originality or precision

□    Poem has a style and point of view but it may be inconsistent or vague at times

□    Poem has a title, but it may be over general or not contribute to the theme or ideas in the poem clearly

 

 □      Word choices in the poem are clichéd, vague, or seem forced and rushed

□    Poem does not have a clear original style or point of view

□    Poem has no title

 
Structure □    Poem has a clear structure, possibly using stanzas or other means (like rhyme) to develop and connect ideas in an organized manner

□    Poem uses line lengths purposefully and consistently to enhance meaning in the poem

□    Poem uses rhythm purposefully and consistently in the poem

 □    Poem has an attempt at structure, but it may be inconsistent to unorganized

□    Poem has clear lines but may have inconsistent line lengths for no clear poetic reasons or the lines may not connect clearly to the ideas in the poem

□    Poem has a rhythm but it is inconsistent and possibly awkward in places

 □    Poem does not have a clear structure or organization

□    The poem’s lines are broken in unclear ways and may create confusion in ideas and theme

□    Poem has awkward and inconsistent rhythm (try reading the poem aloud to hear where the rhythm is awkward or changes unnecessarily )
 

Professionalism

 □    Paper has correct heading and formatting,

□    Poem is submitted in the dropbox correctly (with correct file name and in RTF or Microsoft word formatting)

□    The poem was submitted on time

 

 □    Paper has heading and formatting although there may be some errors

□    Poem is submitted in the dropbox but the file was labeled incorrectly or the file format was not RTF or Microsoft Word

□    The poem was submitted on time

□     

 

 □    Paper has no heading and/or errors in formatting

□    Poem is submitted in the dropbox incorrectly (without correct file name and/or in an unreadable word processing format)

□    The poem was submitted late

 

 

 

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