How to Build a Rubric
A rubric is an assessment tool used to communicate expectations and evaluate quality. In academia, we use rubrics to establish quality standards, communicate those standards - in the form of criteria - to students, and then grade student work based on rubric criteria.
Activities
Step-by-Step
These tabs provide a different look at the same process covered in the activity above.
Steps 1 & 2
- +Rubric: Select + Rubric from the Assignment to add a rubric to the assignment
- Title: Give the rubric a title. Be aware that you can re-use rubrics in Canvas, so you will want to give it a more general title, like "Essay Rubric," rather than a course specific title like "E250, Essay 1."
Step 3
- Criteria: You will see one default criterion that you can edit to start. Afterwards, you add a new row by selecting "+Criterion." Give each criterion a short name, and then add a longer description when necessary.
Step 4
- Ratings: By default, you will have two ratings columns - Full Marks (5 points) and No Marks (0 points). Click on the "+" sign between columns to add new columns. Add as many ratings as you like, and use individual points or point ranges. Again, use a short title to describe the rating (level of performance), and add more description if necessary.
Step 5
- Pts: If you start by adding points in the Ratings columns, you will find the total points for the criterion accrue in the Pts column. If you add or change points in the Pts column, Canvas adjusts the distribution of those points in the Ratings columns. Unless you are setting up extra credit, it is standard that the total points for the rubric add up to the total points possible for the assignment.
Step 6
- Final selections: These selections relate to using, or not using, points when grading with the Rubric:
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- Select "I'll write free-form comments ...," which replaces all ratings columns with one column for written comments on each criterion if you don't want to use points-based ratings. You can still add points if you like, but you won't be able to score the work automatically with the rubric.
- Select "Use this rubric for assignment grading" if you want to use the rubric as a grading tool in SpeedGrader. If you don't select this, the rubric will still be available in SpeedGrader, but it will not add points into the final grade automatically.
- Select "Hide score total for assessment results" if you don't want any points from the rubric to count towards the grade.
Step 7
- Create Rubric: Select "Create Rubric" when you have filled everything in. Remember that your rubric is applied to the assignment, and also saved to your teaching account so that you can re-use it in other courses. Be aware that once you use the rubric to grade student work, you won't be able to make changes to the rubric when it is shared. If you need a different version of the rubric for a different course, you can use the rubric as the starting point for a new rubric.
