{"id":5257,"date":"2026-03-03T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/?p=5257"},"modified":"2026-03-03T09:51:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T17:51:28","slug":"two-sides-to-every-rubric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/2026\/03\/03\/two-sides-to-every-rubric\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Sides to Every Rubric"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Research on rubrics has often focused on validity and reliability (Matshedisho, 2020), but more recent work explores how students actually interpret and use rubrics (Brookhart, 2015; Matshedisho, 2020; Taylor, 2024; Tessier, 2021). This emerging scholarship consistently shows a gap between instructor intention and student interpretation. For example, Matshedisho (2020) found that \u201cstudents expected <em>procedural<\/em> and <em>declarative<\/em> guidance, while instructors expected <em>conceptual<\/em>, reflective work\u201d (p. 175).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If students understand rubrics differently than we intend, rubrics cannot fully support learning. Below are key reasons this mismatch occurs\u2014and strategies to close the gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tacit Knowledge and Language<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Students bring varied backgrounds, disciplinary exposure, and assumptions to their learning (Brookhart, 2015; Matshedisho, 2020). Many do not enter college knowing what a rubric is or how to apply one (Tessier, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key issues include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Unfamiliar terms or disciplinary jargon<\/strong><br>Early\u2011year students may lack field\u2011specific language. In Matshedisho\u2019s (2020) study, first\u2011year medical students struggled with the sociological-specific criteria required for a reflective assignment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Different meanings across disciplines<\/strong><br>Terms like \u201cconcept,\u201d \u201canalysis,\u201d or \u201cargument\u201d shift across fields, confusing students taking multiple general\u2011education courses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ambiguous or subjective labels<\/strong><br>Students struggle to distinguish between words like <em>good<\/em> and <em>very good<\/em>, and terms such as \u201ccritical analysis\u201d can feel subjective (Taylor, 2024).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Minimal differentiation between performance levels<\/strong><br>When descriptors are too similar, students, unable to discern differences between the ratings, cannot see how to progress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Students Use Rubrics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Students often approach rubrics differently than instructors expect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They treat the rubric as separate from course content, starting with the criteria column and reading each cell in isolation (Matshedisho, 2020).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They search for procedural instructions, expecting the rubric to tell them <em>how<\/em> to complete the assignment (Matshedisho, 2020; Taylor, 2024; Tessier, 2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Many prefer hard\u2011copy rubrics over digital versions (Tessier, 2021; Panadero, 2025).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bridging the Gap Through Instruction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Rubrics only support learning when students understand them as instructors intend (Brookhart, 2015). Effective strategies include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Build Shared Understanding<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Explain key terms and check for tacit knowledge\u2014especially discipline\u2011specific language (Taylor, 2024).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Explicitly teach what a rubric is and how to use one; don\u2019t assume prior knowledge (Tessier, 2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Calibrate expectations by discussing examples and rating sample work with students (Taylor, 2024).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Integrate Rubrics Into the Course<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Refer to the rubric during lectures and discussions. (Tessier, 2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provide feedback that directly connects to rubric criteria.\u00a0(Matshedisho, 2020)\u00a0(Taylor, 2024)\u00a0(Tessier, 2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Celebrate or reinforce active rubric use (Tessier, 2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provide hard copies of the rubric whenever possible (Tessier, 2021; Panadero, 2025).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Support Instructors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Offer training in rubric design and student\u2011centered implementation\u00a0(Brookhart, 2015) (Taylor, 2024).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use shared rubrics for multi\u2011section courses to support consistency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Meet as a teaching team to create and calibrate the common rubric.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recognize limitations of online rubric platforms; include clarifying hyperlinks or exemplars when possible (Panadero, 2025).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Clarify Task Expectations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Students often want a <strong>checklist<\/strong>. Provide procedural instructions separately, and use the rubric for <strong>conceptual evaluation<\/strong> (Matshedisho, 2020; Taylor, 2024; Tessier, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Research has proven that students comment favorably when it comes to questions referencing a rubric\u2019s validity and reliability, but when the research focuses on how students interact with, understand, and apply the rubric, it is clear we still have a long way to go. Hopefully the suggestions above will get you started on the road to even better creation and application of your rubrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Brookhart, S. M. (2015). <em>The quality and effectiveness of descriptive rubrics.<\/em> Educational Review, 67(3), 343\u2013368. doi:10.1080\/00131911.2014.929565<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matshedisho, K. R. (2020). <em>Straddling rows and columns: Students&#8217; (mis)conceptions of an assessment rubric.<\/em> Assessment &amp; Evaluation in Higher Education, 169\u2013179. doi:10.1080\/02602938.2019.1616671<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Panadero, E. O. (2025). <em>Analysis of online rubric platforms: Advancing toward erubrics.<\/em> Assessment &amp; Evaluation in Higher Education, 31\u201349. doi:10.1080\/02602938.2024.2345657<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taylor, B. K. (2024). <em>Rubrics in higher education: An exploration of undergraduate students&#8217; understanding and perspectives.<\/em> Assessment &amp; Evaluation in Higher Education, 799\u2013809. doi:10.1080\/02602938.2023.2299330<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tessier, L. (2021). <em>Listening to student perspectives of rubrics: Perceptions, Uses, and Grades.<\/em> Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 32(3), 133\u2013168.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Research on rubrics has often focused on validity and reliability (Matshedisho, 2020), but more recent work explores how students actually interpret and use rubrics (Brookhart, 2015; Matshedisho, 2020; Taylor, 2024; Tessier, 2021). This emerging scholarship consistently shows a gap between instructor intention and student interpretation. For example, Matshedisho (2020) found that \u201cstudents expected procedural and&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/2026\/03\/03\/two-sides-to-every-rubric\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14901,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1393948,50450],"tags":[103045,1839,88537,155,448344],"class_list":["post-5257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teaching","category-tips-tricks","tag-course-design","tag-ecampus","tag-online-learning","tag-oregon-state-university","tag-rubric"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14901"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5257"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5258,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5257\/revisions\/5258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/inspire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}