Rubrics

Introduction

A rubric is a scoring tool that specifies the criteria for an assignment and the characteristics expected for several levels of quality. Rubrics inform students of the criteria used to evaluate their work and make grading both faster and more consistent. This page contains links to sites that provide resources for designing effective rubrics and examples.

General Resources

Rubrics (WikiPODias, by members of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education)
An introduction to rubrics and guide to creating, using and assessing with rubrics. Includes links to many other rubric resources.
https://sites.google.com/site/podnetwork/Home/topics-for-discussion/Rubrics

"Scoring Rubrics: What, When and How?" Barbara M. Moskal (Colorado School of Mines). From the online journal Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2000.
This article is an introduction to rubrics for scoring student work. It includes descriptions of different types of scoring rubrics and ways of developing rubrics.
http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=7&n=3

RubiStar.
This site contains an online tutorial and templates for creating rubrics for a wide variety of learning activities.
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

Assessment and Rubric Information (Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators).
A comprehensive site for information about all aspects of rubric design and use. Contains a rubric tutorial, examples of rubrics for many different projects, and links to numerous online resources.
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/assess.html

“Grading with Rubrics: Developing a Fair and Efficient Assessment Tool,” Deandra Little (University of Virginia Teaching Resource Center).
Directions for creating a grading rubric that is also a teaching tool.
http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Fall_2006/TC_Fall_2006_Little.htm

Rubric Library (California State University, Fresno).
Contains PDFs for rubrics in many areas such as more general ones on oral presentations and critical thinking as well as ones for specific disciplines such as a theatre arts writing rubric.  Also offers a useful set of recommendations for using rubrics.  
http://www.fresnostate.edu/academics/oie/assessment/rubric.shtml

VALUE: Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (Association of American Colleges and Universities).
A few minutes completing a sign-in form gives free access to 15 downloadable rubrics in three areas. 1) Intellectual and Practical Skills, such as Critical thinking or Written communication; 2) Personal and Social Responsibility, such as Ethical reasoning; and 3) Integrative and Applied Learning. Each rubric was developed by teams of faculty and educational professionals and reflects “faculty expectations for essential learning across the nation.”
http://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/index_p.cfm?CFID=24906169&CFTOKEN=86421519

The Critical Thinking Rubric (Washington State University).
Contains criteria for assessing students' critical thinking on a paper addressing a problem-based issue.
http://wsuctproject.wsu.edu/ctr.htm

A Rubric for Evaluating WebQuests (Laura Bellofatto, Nick Bohl, Mike Casey, and Marsha Krlll, and Bernie Dodge.
This comprehensive rubric will help you pinpoint the effective and ineffective points of your WebQuest.  
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestrubric.html

Selected Rubric Reference Sites, Chris Guenter (California State University-Chico).
Contains inks to 13 sites covering all aspects of rubric design and use.
http://www.csuchico.edu/~cguenter/RubricSites.htm

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Michigan State University Resources

Writing Center
http://writing.msu.edu/

Office of Assessment
Director, Kelly Funk
email: funk@msu.edu

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