Rubrics

This paper offers an account of a pilot investigation into students' and supervisors' understanding and interpretation of university-wide guidelines and criteria for theses in engineering education. The university-wide criteria present both a means and a challenge for enhancing theses quality. To the extent that the means lies in indicating the expected standard, the challenge lies in the difficulty to interpret criteria relative specific student projects in order to decide what the criteria imply for specific engineering disciplines and projects. Consequently, there is a risk that despite articulating guidelines and criteria, the quality of theses does not improve since the discipline's standards are insufficiently articulated by supervisors and internalised by students. We suggest that revised supervision processes promoting student ownership and their informed engagement in criterion-based self-and peer-assessment might offer ways of promoting disciplinary discursive expertise for internalising standards by addressing the difficulty of understanding assessment criteria.

This article outlines and discusses the rationale
for and implementation of an integrated approach
to assessment designed for 3rd year
EFL students of the degree in Translation any
and Interpreting at the Universidad Pablo de
Olavide. Our approach not only integrates skills,
it also incorporates the competences which are
now deemed necessary for lifelong learning. We
should point out that these are advanced learners
(C1 is the entrance level) with clearly defined
professional futures as language professionals.
That said, many of the arguments presented
here apply equally to learners of all levels
on more general English courses.

Recently in this journal, Linda Farmer explained her use of a "grading grid" to aid in the grading of argumentative philosophy papers. 1 It is interesting to note that there is actually a growing body of literature on the use of both grading rubrics and grading grids in paper grading of all kinds. One place the use of rubrics can be found is in the literature on taxonomies of learning. 3 The most famous is Bloom's taxonomy, created half a century ago and recently revised. 4 One of the more prominent themes in the revised work is the distinction between retention and transfer. The idea is that we would like our students not only to remember the content and skills taught in our courses, but also to be able to transfer this knowledge to novel situations. Thus, in having a student write an argumentative paper in a philosophy class, we are interested in assessing whether the student has retained the ideas, issues, and arguments taught in the class, as well as whether the student can transfer this knowledge to the novel situation of creating his or her own argument.

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of co-creating rubrics against just using rubrics. By co-creating rubrics, the students might have the opportunity to better internalize them and have a voice in the assessment criteria. Two groups undertaking a degree in Sport Sciences (N = 65) participated. Results showed that the students who co-created the rubrics had higher levels of learning selfregulation measured through thinking aloud protocols, whereas the results from the self-reported self-regulation and self-efficacy questionnaires did not show significant differences. The treatment group outperformed the control group in only one out of the three tasks assessed. Regarding the perceptions about rubrics use, there were no significant differences except for the process of co-creation, to which the co-created rubric group gave higher importance. Therefore, this study has opened an interesting venue on rubrics research: co-creating rubrics may influence students’ activation of learning strategies.

This experimental project investigated the reliability and validity of rubrics in assessment of students' written responses to a social science "writing prompt". The participants were asked to grade one of the two samples of writing assuming it was written by a graduate student. In fact both samples were prepared by the authors. The first sample was well written in terms of sentence structure, spelling, grammar, and punctuation; however, the author did not fully answer the question. The second sample fully answered each part of the question, but included multiple errors in structure, spelling, grammar and punctuation. In the first experiment, the first sample was assessed by participants once without a rubric and once with a rubric. In the second experiment, the second sample was assessed by participants once without a rubric and once with a rubric. The results showed that raters were significantly influenced by mechanical characteristics of students' writing rather than the content even when they used a rubric. Study results also indicated that using rubrics may not improve the reliability or validity of assessment if raters are not well trained on how to design and employ them effectively.

We present a new instrument for the evaluation of the reflective narratives of university students. We describe the process of construction of the rubric (elements, indicators and levels). The results of a validation process that used the judgements of external experts are presented. We conclude that the rubric works well in grading the degree of reflection. a b s t r a c t This paper presents a new instrument for the evaluation and improvement of the reflective narratives of students in higher education: the Rubric for Narrative Reflection Assessment (NARRA). First, we describe the process of construction of the rubric, with its elements, indicators and levels. Second, we present the results of a validation process that used the judgements of external experts, who confirmed the usefulness of the instrument. Third, we show the results of NARRA's first application to students' narratives. We conclude that the new rubric we propose works well in grading the degree of reflection on the basis of subjective texts.

con tecnologías digitales 1 Congreso Iberoamericano de aprendizaje mediado por tecnología Aprendizaje y mediación pedagógica con tecnologías digitales Coordinador: José Antonio Jerónimo Montes [ primera edición 2012 ] [ ISBN 978-607-02-4148-2 ] La mediación del proceso de Learning Design como aporte a la calidad del aprendizaje en red Ghislandi, Patrizia M.M.

This file contains a table that compares five course rubrics that are available to help guide course design. The goal was to identify what the common categories were across these rubrics as well as to document some of the details contained in these rubrics for these common categories. We can see that each rubric can have a somewhat different area(s) of foci so considering these collectively is very informative.

Laboratory and practical work are characteristic features of an undergraduate degree program in any engineering discipline. Trying to incorporate practical work successfully in to the engineering curriculum can present a number of challenges. Laboratory and practical work are expensive to run, sometimes requiring specialist equipment to be purchased that can rapidly become obsolete. Despite the challenges, the application of theory in a practical setting remains an expected and fundamental part of the engineering curriculum. The challenge now is for program teams to consider how the knowledge, skills and attributes that we desire to develop through such practical activities, can be facilitated in an appropriate, effective and efficient way within an engineering degree program for the 21st century. The aim of this review paper is to summarize the literature available in the form of books, journal papers and articles on the alternative approaches for learning, assessment and evaluation of laboratories in the engineering education.

Teachers often use rubrics with a familiar understanding of generating standardised evidence of learning. With this preconceived notion, teachers restrict the potential of their classrooms in promoting students' problem-solving, decision-making and creativity. 

Instructional rubrics vary in many ways, and they all contain a list of criteria items and the gradations of quality. As we reflect on the value of rubrics in promoting creativity, problem-solving and decision-making, we need to define what constitutes these elements in the classroom.

A significant proportion of students entering international colleges in Thailand lack both the English language skills and critical thinking skills necessary for them to succeed in higher education. The ability to think critically has been correlated with successful reading comprehension and grade point average (GPA); however, many high schools in Thailand fail to develop this ability. This paper is part of an ongoing investigation into the use of Facione’s Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric to assess the critical thinking skills of students enrolled in an intensive English program for students entering a Thai university. Students’ critical thinking was assessed at the beginning and end of a 10-week term, during which students received explicit instruction on critical thinking. Some students evidenced measurable improvements over the term, and the rubric seems appropriate for future use. As critical thinking has been linked with academic success, this topic is relevant in diverse contexts.

Two approaches to self-assessment are optimal, because they include the assessment criteria: rubrics and scripts. The aim of this study is to compare the effect of rubrics and scripts on self-regulation, performance and self-efficacy. A total of 69 pre-service teachers participated in the study. During a semester the participants were trained to design multimedia material in three experimental conditions (rubrics, scripts and control). Results showed that students using the scripts had higher levels of learning self-regulation after the intervention, whereas rubrics decreased performance/avoidance self-regulation (negative self-regulatory actions detrimental to learning). No significant effects were found for students’ performance or self-efficacy. Students preferred the use of rubrics to the use of scripts.

Este artículo es producto de la investigación "Definición de criterios comunes para la evaluación de la competencia comunicativa en programas de inglés como lengua extranjera" inscrito en el Sistema Resumen En este artículo se sustenta la tesis de que la utilización de rúbricas consensuadas garantiza en gran medida la promoción de prácticas evaluativas justas. Esta aseveración se basa en el argumento de que la creación y aplicación de rúbricas incrementa la validez y la transparencia en la evaluación, a la par que su diseño consensuado promueve la democracia, posibilita el impacto positivo en el aprendizaje o efecto washback y facilita prácticas equitativas-siendo todos estos principios inherentes a la justicia. Se enfatiza en un concepto de rúbrica que integra una tarea auténtica y su escala de valoración, como procedimiento de evaluación alternativa, dentro de un enfoque crítico. Abstract In this article, I support the thesis that utilizing rubrics, discussed and agreed upon teachers and students, guarantees the promotion of fair assessment practices. This claim is supported by the argument that designing and applying scoring rubrics enhances validity and transparency in evaluation, while their consensual design supports democracy, promotes positive washback and facilitates equitable assessment practices-all of them principles inherent to fairness. A concept of rubric that integrates an authentic task and its scoring scale, applied as an alternative assessment procedure within a critical approach, is emphasized.

L'évaluation des apprentissages s'impose aux enseignants, sans qu'ils soient préalablement formés pour la réaliser (Vial, 2009). D'ailleurs certains auteurs soulignent que les enseignants ont beaucoup de difficulté pour interpréter la production de leurs étudiants (Berthiaume, David, & David, 2012) et craignent, à juste titre, de produire un jugement trop subjectif. Dans ce contexte, l'utilisation d'une évaluation critériée s'avère pertinente pour objectiver cette subjectivité (Romainville, 2012) et ainsi permettre aux enseignants de clarifier leurs attentes en terme d'apprentissage à leurs étudiants. Mais comment apporter aux enseignants les compétences suffisantes pour qu'ils puissent élaborer des évaluations critériées sans pour autant les transformer en docimologues ? Pour illustrer cela, il sera présenté l'accompagnement des enseignants mis en place à l'Université de Lausanne (UNIL) en ce qui concerne l'élaboration d'évaluations critériées.

The completion of a final year project in the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Putra Malaysia remarks the accomplishment of a bachelor candidate in his bachelor programme. The impact bore by the project is very important as it tests the ability of the candidate in idea construction, literature review, project analysis and design, and project development. Besides the software development skill, the student is also evaluated in his writing through proposal writing and dissertation writing. His presentation skill is also evaluated where he is expected to demonstrate his system and present a seminar. However, the project is carried out by many students across many departments and monitor by supervisors and the standardization issue is risen to ensure that all students are evaluted on the same scale. The previous practice is by using the maximum marks as guidelines, but this can still depends much on the personal evaluation of the assessor. In this paper we present the final year project evaluation criteria used in our faculty and the rubrics that we use as an approach to mitigate inconsistency in the evaluation. Our preliminary practise of this approach as shown tremendous positive change towards standardizing the assessment which has indirectly contributes to better course management.

As academic institutions progress towards incorporating various methods of e-learning in their curriculum, one of the primary systems which are being implemented in universities is a Learning Management System (LMS). There are several different Learning Management Systems available today, both free / open source and commercial. Every organization may have a different set of requirements based on the number of students, the funds and technical support available. Making a choice about which Learning Management System to use can be complex. In this paper, we have presented a rubric which evaluates LMS against a set of weighted criteria, thereby enabling universities to make a choice on which LMS to implement. We also present the evaluation of the LMSs Moodle and Sakai against the developed rubric as a case study.

Using rubrics in foreign language teaching has become a popular procedure among academics around the world. Rubrics are useful tools to improve educational in-class processes, as well as, to assess students' learning outcomes. This study aims to determine whether the application of rubrics as an assessment tool influences eighth-grade foreign language students' Academic Performance. A diagnostic survey was applied to the teachers of the foreign language department at the high school to determine which assessment tools were used to assess and grade students' writing class work. Twenty-eight students of eighth grade, classroom "D" (octavo año de educación básica class "D") and foreign language teachers of Unidad Educativa Colegio Militar Nº6 "Combatientes de Tapi (UECMCT), Riobamba, Ecuador, participated in the study. The Academic Performance data of the students was collected during the second term of the second five-month school period (quimester) and analyzed through figures and tables, where a written activity was assessed without the application of a rubric. The results of this first students' performance assessment showed that many students were not proficient in learning. Subsequently, an assessment rubric was elaborated and applied as an

This presentation gives a general overview of different types of informal and formal assessments that can be used to assess the oral language development, literacy and writing of English language learners. It was intended for an audience in Ecuador and correlates rubrics with English language standards.

In recent years, teachers at the Bunkyo English Communication Centre (BECC) have been involved in a project basing materials and courses around the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Working with standardized rubrics, we have also begun giving CEFR based feedback for spoken and written assessments. Rather than getting ‘just a number’, students are encouraged to take the feedback they are given and use it to motivate and inform their extra studies within our Self Access Learning Centre (SALC). This report will briefly discuss the basic concepts of feedback and the development of our CEFR based rubrics. It will then outline how we are using these rubrics to give students a positive and motivating combination of grades, feedback, and advice to students. Finally, other forms of in-house feedback will also be discussed.

Rubrics are evaluative tools that can increase students' understanding of expectations for an assignment and how it is graded. A rubric contains dimensions that identify levels of performance and criteria on which those dimensions are evaluated. A rubric can also be a learning tool. If students collaborate on the creation of a rubric to be used by the class while writing and the instructor while grading, they understand the way the parts of a writing rubrics work together to help create a whole piece of writing. Writing pedagogy can include using the rubric as a guide through the writing process, not just a way to grade writing at its end.

Outcome-Based Education (OBE) model is being adopted at a fast pace at Engineering colleges in India at the moment. It is considered as a giant leap forward to improve technical education in India and help Indian Engineers compete with their global counterparts. Outcome Based Education (OBE) is an important demonstration Tool for student-centered instruction that focuses on measuring student performance through outcomes. Outcomes include Engineering Knowledge, Problem Analysis, Ethic, Individual and Team Work, Communication etc... It enables the students to perpetuate these outcomes as they perceive over the years of engineering. The students are evaluated for all the required parameters (Outcomes) during the course of the program. The attainment, defined by the NBA, gives a substantial opportunity for Tier-II students to bridge this gap of employability. In this present paper, a case study is developed through CO-PO mapping and attainment for Mechanical Engineering Students of Tier-II. The formulated rubrics assessment is indicative of a continuous improvement strategy that can be easily adaptable by faculty and students across engineering streams.

‘Rubric’ is a term with a variety of meanings. As the use of rubrics has increased both in research and practice, the term has come to represent divergent practices. These range from secret scoring sheets held by teachers to holistic student-developed articulations of quality. Rubrics are evaluated, mandated, embraced and resisted based on often imprecise and inconsistent understandings of the term. This paper provides a synthesis of the diversity of rubrics, and a framework for researchers and practitioners to be clearer about what they mean when they say ‘rubric’. Fourteen design elements or decision points are identified that make one rubric different from another. This framework subsumes previous attempts to categorise rubrics, and should provide more precision to rubric discussions and debate, as well as supporting more replicable research and practice.

Según el Rodríguez (2010), la Unidad Didáctica es una herramienta clave para promover el desarrollo de las competencias básicas con cada grupo de alumnos/as, de acuerdo a lo establecido en los documentos de mayor
generalidad contenidos en el Proyecto Educativo. La UD relaciona el PEI con la práctica de aula. La Unidad Didáctica sería el elemento específico de programación de aula para una
determinada secuencia temporal y/o de contenidos.

This graduate thesis deals with designing criteria to assess speaking skills. The first section, serving as a theoretical basis for the subsequent research, presents readers with the reasons for selecting this topic and explains the terms speaking, assessment and assessment criteria in the context of assessing speaking skills. The research, conducted by means of teacher questionnaires, maps the teachers' current practices in terms of assessing speaking skills. The results of the research revealed the most frequently employed speaking assessment tasks, teachers' preferences in types of assessment and the fact that the criteria teachers select for individual speaking assessment tasks differ quite significantly. Subsequently, the results are commented on, and possible reasons for their occurrence are mentioned. Implications of the results for language teaching are discussed at the end of the thesis.

This action research Project aims to describe the effects of implementing a rubric as a self- assessment tool for Error Analysis on EFL A1-A2 Students’ Written Compositions. Likewise, it describes what the most common errors in students’ written compositions are; and the impact of a tool to enhance self-efficacy at the moment of self-assessing written compositions. The population were 90 tenth-graders from three public schools in Bogota. This research lasted 8 months including different stages: needs analysis; design and strategy implementation; data collection and data analysis. The results showed that the strategy contributed to the reduction of some errors in the population’s written compositions.
Keywords: Error analysis, self-assessment, rubric, self-efficacy, written compositions.

Getting Eucharistic Bread at Holy Liturgy: between dignity and humbleness. Defending the proper understanding of the theological meaning of a liturgical gesture. Starting from some changings of rubrics in the last edition of the Liturgikon (2012), concerning the formal gesture of receiving Communion, this study evokes the historical evolution of an old Byzantine liturgical principle: liturgical humbleness. Based on an earlier study of the liturgist Robert Taft, our liturgical reflections on the lines of the romanian Liturgy reminds those people eager to know better the history of the Liturgy, that each of the liturgical gestures are grounded on solid arguments, even though today we have forgotten the logic behind them; and, once again even we should know better the past, but we cannot live into that past.

Assessing the quality of student efforts and products is a continual necessity for academics and practitioners in technical communication; however, the process of constructing valid and reliable rubrics remains an underexplored topic in the field. This paper first addresses some of the assessment concerns and then describes a case study that documents the development and implementation of one holistic and five analytic rubrics to evaluate undergraduate projects. The discussion focuses on identifying site-specific criteria and training effective raters and is intended to help academics respond to their required accreditation mandates and offer practitioners alternatives for evaluating products and services.