Rubric Design

At a glance

  • A rubric is a marking guide or assessment tool that includes both criteria for rating important dimensions of performance and standards of attainment of the criteria.
  • Rubrics inform both instructor and student what is considered important and what to look for when assessing.
  • Rubrics are also a teaching and learning tool (not just assessment tool) which can be used to inform students if they are not demonstrating your expectations, thus allowing you to make adjustments to your teaching

In depth

What are criteria and standards?

In assessment, it is necessary to distinguish criteria from standards. Sadler (2005) provides this distinction as follows:

Criterion ––a distinguishing property or characteristic of anything, by which its quality can be judged or estimated, or by which a decision or classification may be made. (p. 178)

Standard ––a definite level of excellence or attainment, or a definite degree of any quality viewed as a prescribed object of endeavour or as the recognised measure of what is adequate for some purpose, so established by authority, custom or consensus. (p. 189)

Why are rubrics useful?

Rubrics can help you:

  • clearly articulate your expectations;
  • become more objective in your marking;
  • provide feedback on student performance;
  • easily explain to students at what level they’re at and what they need to do further to achieve excellence;
  • easily explain to students what their mark is instead of just giving them an overall numerical score (e.g. 7/10);
  • encourage students to have input into the marking process by discussing with them your expectations early on.

A rubric can aid student learning, as it can work as a scaffolding tool. Students will be able to know if they are at a level you want them to be and, if not, what

improvements they need to work on. Ideally, you would discuss the rubric with your students or provide them helpful feedback on the spaces provided following the rubric. You would need to write explicitly what you would want them to do and learn based on your learning outcomes and describe these in detail.

Rubrics should not be used to replace your detailed feedback on specific sections of, say, an essay. Completed rubrics should complement your detailed feedback. With both, the student receives specific comments as well as information about the level of achievement they’re currently at.

What are the steps in creating a rubric?

  1. Determine the learning objective(s) you wish to assess (note alignment with the overall subject objectives).
  2. Determine what you will be looking for in a work or performance (e.g., a report or presentation). List these as your criteria.
  3. Determine the performance standards you would like those criteria to be demonstrated. List these standards as levels.
  4. Clearly describe in each intersection of criterion and level how that work or performance is demonstrated.

Further reading and resources

A good start is Biggs and Tang to appreciate the usefulness of constructive alignment. Follow this with Wiggins who provides a detailed and practical understanding of rubrics, their uses and value in higher education, particularly its analogies of student performance with performance in sport with clear standards and criteria. Conclude your reading with practical tips from Dawson, Sadler and Brookhart.

Sadler, D. R. (2005). Interpretations of criteria-based assessment and grading in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 30(2), 175–194. https://doi.org/10.1080/0260293042000264262

Wiggins, G. P. (1998). Educative assessment: designing assessments to inform and improve student performance. San Francisco, California. Jossey-Bass.

Brookhart, S. M. (2018). Appropriate Criteria: Key to Effective Rubrics. Frontiers in Education, 3, 359715. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2018.00022

Biggs, J and Tang, C. (2007) Teaching for quality learning at university, (3rd ed.), Maidenhead, UK: McGraw Hill​

Dawson, P. (2017). Assessment rubrics: towards clearer and more replicable design, research and practice. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42(3), 347-360. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1111294