Qatar University
College of Arts and Sciences
Developing rubrics to assess courses
Abdou Ndoye
Fall 2010
Workshop objectives and learning
outcomes
Workshop Objectives
Learning Outcomes : at the end
of this workshop, participants
will be able to
Present the rationale and purposes for
using rubrics
Identify the rationale and purposes for
using rubrics
Review different types of rubrics
Distinguish holistic from an analytic
rubric
Present an overview of principles of
designing a good rubric
Apply the principles of designing a
good rubric to revise existing rubrics
in use in their courses or create new
ones.
The rationale and purposes for using
rubrics
Assessment and rubrics
• Two types of assessment :
 Traditional assessments (tests)
 Norm referenced assessment : Performance is
compared based on a norm ( SAT)
 Authentic assessment

Criterion referenced assessment : Assessments in
which we evaluate students performance based on a set
of criteria ( Students performing lab procedures )
Rubric as one of the tools
• Why rubrics
▫ Authentic assessment
 Allows students to perform a real world task
 Demonstrates combination of different skills and
competencies
 Performance or product required
 Focuses on learning outcomes
 Challenges ( More difficult to design and assess )
Challenges of authentic assessment
 Harder to assess and more complex ( it is
easier to assess a multiple choice than a term paper)
• No obvious set of criteria
• Risks of personal bias
• Combines different competencies and skills
• Rubric is a tool that can help solve these
problems
Rubrics and authentic assessments
▫ Rubrics are hard to design
▫ Rubrics take time and are constantly reviewed and
adapted
▫ Opportunities for reliability across instructors (
reduces personal bias)
▫ clear set of expectations ( no ambiguity between
performance criteria or scale )
▫ Guidelines for scoring
▫ Rubrics provide students with a self assessment tool to
improve learning
▫ Communication tool for consistency
Types of Rubrics
Types
• Holistic :
▫ Looks at the product or performance as a whole
• Analytic
▫ Breaks the performance or product into criteria(
Dimensions)
▫ See Handout for examples
Overview of principles of designing a
good rubric
Principles of designing good rubrics
• Break down performances in specific sets of skills and criteria
• Aim for clear and concise descriptors ( scale and criteria should be
exclusive , and also clearly stated) ( avoid ambiguous words as much
as you can ( often, rarely, meaningful etc…)
• Use specific and observable criteria or provide for a way to
accommodate them ( Creative and thoughtful)
• Keep it to what is essential ( avoid lengthy and cumbersome rubrics
). “….lengthy rubrics only gather dust…” (Benjamin 23)
• Descriptors and performance levels should be clear ( equal step
between scales) the difference between 4 and 3 should the same as
the difference between 3 and 2
• List skills consistently in a continuum across levels
• Link assignment to rubrics
• Shared with colleagues : Have colleagues review and check it for
you
• Apply and readjust
Steps
• See Handout
•
•
•
•
Task
Break down tasks into attributes (criteria)
Develop levels of performance
Describe each criteria and level
Task :
Students are asked to do a presentation on the components of
a healthy food pyramid
What are the criteria for
the presentation ? What
dimensions will you look
for?
Criteria
What are the expected levels
of performance? Decide also
on your point value
Meet
expectations
Student makes eye contact
Engaging the
audience
Content of the
presentation
Relevance
Student engaged audience
through questioning
What do you expect
from students for
each these criteria ?
Those are your
descriptors.
References
• Allen, N . (20xx). Designing Rubrics. A
PowerPoint presentation.
• Benjamin, A.(2000). An English teacher’s guide
to performance tasks and rubrics. Larchmont:
Eye on Education.
• How to Create Rubrics . Retrieved from :
http://www.marked.com/assessment/HowToCreateRubric
s.htm