What is a rubric?
A rubric can be a guide for analyzing the effectiveness of projects and for planning new designs, as well as an evaluation tool used by teachers and students and a process to establish essential objectives and evaluation criteria for projects. multimedia in class.
Additionally, a rubric is a set of categories that define and describe the important components of the work that is being completed, critiqued, or evaluated. Each category contains a gradation of levels of completion or proficiency, with a score assigned to each level and a clear description of what criteria must be met in order to be scored at each level.
As an assessment tool, rubrics allow for complex critiques of projects , presentations, written reports, and other work in the classroom. Since the criteria for evaluation are clearly defined, teachers and students share a common understanding of the objectives and criteria of the project, and the different levels to complete the established criteria.
Using the rubric, teachers can evaluate projects, groups of students, or individual students, and the student can use the rubric for self-assessment as an individual or in groups, as well as for peer assessment. In turn, rubrics can also be used to criticize media productions, web pages, advertisements, etc.
While using an existing rubric to evaluate, critique, and / or plan projects can be quite positive in and of itself, there are additional benefits, such as the fact that students will not only understand but actively participate in the process of determining the criteria used for your evaluation. It is also a great opportunity to discuss what makes projects effective and interesting and to create a set of essential, collaborative and directed criteria around it. Finally, and given that multimedia projects are generally integrated into a curriculum based on the course subjects, the norm for the rubrics to work must also be adapted to the individual objectives of each project.
How to develop an assessment with rubrics
Establishing a common understanding of the assessment process and allowing students to participate in creating their own standards for it are important components of project-based learning.
Student-created rubrics can emphasize decision-making, collaborative learning, and / or performance-based assessment and “real world” connections. Rubrics can be used for planning and evaluation throughout the project, by students and teachers, as well as a tool for media literacy.
Materials needed :
- Sample rubrics.
- Media or project examples showing a variety of accomplishments.
- A place to write visible to all (blackboard, paper, etc.).
Steps to follow for an assessment with rubrics
- Familiarize students with the rubric concept . Begin by posting or distributing copies of the rubrics for students to read. Make available samples of media or projects that can be evaluated using one or more of these rubrics. Allow students to read and view existing rubrics and media samples.
- In groups, evaluate the media or project samples using the rubrics. Ask the students in each group to evaluate the samples, make a decision on an appropriate score, and be prepared to explain their evaluation to the class.
Possible questions for evaluation :
- How difficult was it for group members to reach consensus? In what areas, if any, did the group members disagree or fail to find? How did you solve the problems you encountered?
- What would need to be changed in each project or media sample to receive a higher or lower score?
- How could the rubric being used be changed to better suit the projects or media samples being evaluated?
Both teachers and students will need to prepare a rubric that they will use for their next projects. Teachers will have concrete assessment criteria, constraints, and values that they would like to see represented in the rubric and should discuss these with the class. For example:
- How can the rubric incorporate or reflect the values and concerns of the school and community?
- Should there be a rubric for all projects or variations for different types of projects or for groups with different goals?
- Will the rubric be “holistic” (will it have a single score for the entire project) or will there be scores for different aspects of the project?
- How will collaboration and other components of the development process be incorporated into the rubric?
- How will the rubric be used in planning, design reviews, final evaluations, etc.? And who will be the advisor (teachers, parents, classmates, etc.)?
As projects get underway and students and teachers use the rubric (for planning, design reviews, and other evaluation activities), the class may want to evaluate how the rubric is working, which can be done through a few of the following questions:
- Are all parties comfortable using the rubric?
- Are there minor changes that need to be made to the rubric to make it work better?
- Are the examples given still appropriate and clear to everyone involved?
- Do students have any other questions, suggestions, or concerns about using the rubric?
Final thoughts
Instead of breaking up into groups, teachers may prefer to keep the class together for the entire activity, especially if working with very young students.
Rubrics are used in many different settings in the real world. Teachers could expand the discussion on rubrics by presenting examples used by corporations and other professionals.
