There is an exciting new feature in Blackboard which will help instructors provide more detailed feedback in less time. This is the rubrics feature.

What are they?

Rubrics are tables of assessment. Blackboard uses the most common layout, which has columns of proficiency with the greatest levels of achievement on the right moving down to the lowest levels on the left. The rows indicate what is being measured. For example, a piece of writing may be assessed on measures of grammar, structure, clarity, formatting, and citations. Points are attached to each aspect being assessed, with the highest possible points in the right column. Different aspects can have different values. For example, perhaps the focus of this assignment was proper citations, so these would have higher values than grammar or structure, but in another assignment in a future week another rubric could be used in which clarity is the focal point.

Why should I use them?

• Measure multiple aspects on one assignment
• Save instructor time during grading
• Ensures fairness while grading
• Guidance for students while completing assignment
• Ability to be re-used for multiple assignments

How do I make it happen?

Rubrics can be built right into Blackboard and utilized time and time again.  Once you create a rubric, that same rubric can be modified to work for other assignments so there’s not a need to start from scratch.  Learn how!  (linked)  http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/dce/walkthroughs/Rubrics/story.html

Need inspiration?

Here are some examples from the Center for Teaching and Learning to help.

Thinking Rubric  (Linked)  http://oregonstate.edu/ctl/thinking

Communication Rubric (Linked)   http://oregonstate.edu/ctl/communication

Collaboration Rubric  (Linked)  http://oregonstate.edu/ctl/collaboration

Share your experience with rubrics!  Click on “Leave a Reply” below.