Best Practices: Let's Hear It for Rubrics!
“I always give out the rubric before students start working on their assignment. That’s when they’re most interested in doing it right and getting a good grade. I use it as a teaching tool.”
“I used to worry that I graded some papers differently from others, especially those that I graded first versus those at the end. I feel much more secure when I grade with rubrics that I’m being consistent in my grading. I know I’m using the same criteria for all the students.”
“I get a lot fewer complaints about grades since I started using rubrics. I even get fewer office visits…. Less stress for me and less stress for students… a win-win all around!”
“The folks at the Writing Center tell me it’s a lot easier to help my students when they bring in rubrics for their assignments.”
“Rubrics are great for explaining the many different tasks that go into writing a paper in small, manageable bits. It’s not so overwhelming for the students. Or me, for that matter.”
“I do a team-taught class with five other professors. We created a joint rubric. I thought we’d argue a lot, but it turns out that we pretty much agree on what we want in a paper.”
“My students love the rubrics. My teaching evaluations have gone up!”
