Rubrics really help a teacher to be more objective while marking the work students produce. Marking a multiple choice test is quite easy but how to you ensure consistency when marking students' written work, oral presentations or project work? Using Web 2.0 tools for creating more 'single right answer' type tests is a real mistake (in my opinion) unless of course these tests are created by the students! The web tools we are looking at on our Pilgrims courses focus on creative work, assignments that require collaborative work in pairs of groups and integrated language skills. Assessing such work requires a high degree of professionalism from the teacher. If you are new to the idea of rubrics or want to find out more about the advantages of using them, check out this list.
After talking a bit about rubrics, we examined a few examples from the web to see what features to pay attention to while making our own.
In the first example below, people thought that starting with the 'best' column on the left was more motivating but that having a column with a 'zero' score (Unsatisfactory) would be demotivating. Also, the wording has to be very well-chosen. 'Fails to explain...' was thought to be very negative. A more humanistic wording would be 'In this assignment there is no evidence of..' or something like that. It was also too detailed for our needs.
In the second example, I like the term 'Apprentice' as it has the connotations of a beginner who is learning from another person, which promotes the importance of group work. There is no mention of 'failure'. Some group members
Writing a rubric is hard work but an important part of carrying out fair assessment. Rubrics make it clear to the students what aspects of their work should be worked on during the next assignment. The use of rubrics encourages a cyclical progression where students receive feedback from the teacher and possibly their peers and use that feedback to set their next goals.
Writing a rubric
Working in groups the course participants prepared draft rubrics for marking the 'Fire and Ice' task. They formulated the categories to be assessed down the left of the grid and the levels/points across the top. Then they assessed their friends' work using their rubric. They wrote a piece of feedback on the back. A variety of different styles of feedback emerged. Some wrote points for each category. Others wrote sentences saying what they thought was done effectively and suggesting an area to work on next time. I hope that everyone benefitted from seeing what different styles there were!
We discussed whether there should be points given or just feedback - and not everyone agreed. Some wanted to know how many points they got and others wanted to give/recieve points on the second or even third task since the aim is to focus on learning. However, we are aware that pressure from parents and testing systems makes us give points even when we might not want to.
Very useful advice, which is also clearly illustrated. Your learners are so lucky to have you, Kristina and Isil! Information on such practical aspects of teaching (like writing a rubric) is what should thoroughly be studied and remembered by all current and future teachers!
ReplyDeleteRubrics is undoubtedly a great idea! It is important to think about the wording in order not to demotivate students. You did a good job, I believe the trainees learned how to write rublics and assess students' work fairly.
ReplyDeleteAs for your discussion whether there should be points given or just feedback, in my opinion, points are important, sometimes feedback is not enough, especially for the ones who want to improve.