Rubrics

Dr. Luongo has struck again. She has once again opened my eyes to actually appreciate something I used to dread- rubrics! I can honestly say that when I had Teaching Science, I use to cringe when Dr. Redden mentioned that she expected a rubric with our assignments. What on earth are we supposed to write in a rubric!? I used to come up with the most PATHETIC rubrics for her class, somewhat embarrassing, I must say. If only I had been introduced to Rubistar..ah! After our conversation in class, I realized Dr. Luongo was right. It's a great tool. Students can clearly see what is expected of them, and how they have received their grades. In high school, I used to just accept the grade I got, without question (unless, of course it wasn't an A!). But I never knew what was expected. Another great point is that, from the teacher's point of view, if a student or their parent comes in to question your grading method, you can clearly show them what was expected. In plain English, you're covering your own butt. Unfortunately, I had an experience in college where a certain professor (no names mentioned) would give us a test where we were allowed to use our books to directly quote for answers. My friends and I would study ahead of time, comparing answers (since he would give us the questions ahead of time). We would all put almost word for word the exact same answer, and yet all of our grades varied. There were A's, A-'s, B's and even C's!!! How on earth did this professor get these grades? What was he expecting us to write? If only there was a rubric, we could argue our point. Oh well, too late now.

Anyway, I searched the Internet for some things on rubrics and I found this article by a woman named Joyce Kasman Valenza. She discusses almost exactly what we've spoken of in class. Feel free to read it. I thought it was interesting that she discussed how she wished we used rubrics back in history. Why DID it take us so long to come up with it!?

Enjoy :)

http://joycevalenza.com/rubrictext.html