USING RUBRICS
Duke University
Assessment Roundtable
23 April 2012
Jennifer Ahern-Dodson | Thompson Writing Program
Yvonne Belanger | Center for Instructional Technology
Jessica Thornton | Provost Office
RUBRICS:
WHAT ABOUT THEM?
Background
Getting you Started - Audience Participation
Examples from Across Duke
Take-aways
Question and Answer
Sign-in!
Handouts Available
OVERVIEW:
WHAT EXACTLY ARE RUBRICS?
Word Root: Red Ink
In the mid-90s reframed as a evaluation tool
A scoring tool that lays out specific
expectations for an assignment
Divides assignment into its component parts
Can include descriptions of acceptable and
unacceptable performance
OVERVIEW:
WHY USE RUBRICS?
Help with Grading
Communicate Expectations to Students
Sharing Best Practices
Program Assessment
OVERVIEW:
COMPONENTS OF RUBRICS
Task Description
Dimensions
Scale
Description of Performance at each level and
dimension
OVERVIEW:
EXAMPLES
OVERVIEW:
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
Rubrics are not necessarily:
Quantitative
Summative
Tied to Grades
Useful only at the assignment level
Comprehensive
Boring checklists
GETTING YOU STARTED
NAMING WHAT MATTERS
What do you most care about students
learning?
How is this communicated to students (mission
statement, syllabus, application)?
What skills or experiences do they need to get
there?
GETTING SPECIFIC:
WHAT WOULD SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?
Name at least one learning goal and describe
(or bullet list) what it would look like if
students mastered that goal.
Concept: “backwards design”
ALIGNING FOR LEARNING
What do you want students to be able to do by
the end of the project/course?(Learning goals)
How do you give them practice in those goals?
(Teaching or Mentoring Strategies)
How do you know that they are learning (in
process) and have learned (at end) these goals?
(Feedback strategies and evaluation)
EXAMPLES FROM
ACROSS DUKE
EXAMPLES
FROM
DUKE:
DIVINITY
EXAMPLES
FROM
DUKE:
FOREIGN
LANGUAGE
EXAMPLES
FROM
DUKE:
BIOTAP
EXAMPLES
FROM
DUKE:
PRATT
TAKE-AWAYS
TAKE-AWAYS:
HOW TO GET STARTED
Start Small
 Start with one assignment
Keep learning goals at center
Scaffolding
TAKE-AWAYS:
HOW TO CREATE A RUBRIC
Abundance of Rubrics on the Internet
Easy to create and make your own
Build consensus in your program or
department
RESOURCES
AAC&U VALUE Rubrics
 Available at assessment.aas.duke.edu
Book: Introduction to Rubrics (Stevens & Levi)
Article: On the “Uses” of Rubrics: Reframing
the Great Rubric Debate (Turley & Gallagher)
THANK YOU!
Questions? Thoughts? Feedback?
MAKING IT YOURS:
HOW TO BUILD IT? GET CONSENSUS?
Subject Matter Expert Driven
 Interview faculty individually or in small groups
 Determine dimensions and descriptions of
performance from interviews
This approach may need assistance on the
front-end
MAKING IT YOURS:
HOW TO BUILD IT? GET CONSENSUS?
Ground up Approach
 Start with a blank rubric
 Ask faculty to score and make notes
 Rubric will evolve over time with feedback