RAILS:: Forum

4/2/2012 12:38:20 AM Jaena Rrae Cabrera Posts: 1	Hi everyone! My only experience with rubrics have been of the grading variety. I always found them useful, as they helped me focus on the assignment's requirements and create goals. What are your general thoughts on rubrics? Also, please discuss anything in the readings you find particularly interesting or useful. Hope you guys are having a nice weekend!
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4/4/2012 11:38:38 AM joyferguson Posts: 1	I am finding it challenging and useful to think of what success looks like from different angles. I noticed on many of the other draft rubrics there is a line for budget, which I would not have thought about. The rubrics format also provides an overview in limited categories so the project isn't just a long list of outcomes.
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4/5/2012 10:36:00 PM alice Posts: 1	Hi, green group! Now that I've found you, I'll add that I've also found lots of rubrics--mostly within academic assessment plans--many on the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) website (http://www.learningoutcomesassessment.org/TransparencyFrameworkIntro.htm). In fact, NILOA's subtitle succinctly states why rubrics are important assessment tools: Making learning outcomes usable & transparent. On their blog DeWitt (2012) questioned the percentages applied to student outcomes. "A 20% failure rate would be unacceptable in any other context" (para. 9). I, too, have wondered about percentages, only from a perspective of randomness. What appears logical to me about rubrics is seeing a service at a glance in incremental levels of indicators and developmental degrees of progress, e.g., 45% of end users can comprehend the module, or 25% of the board can define the project. "Complex products or behaviors can be examined efficiently" (Manoa, n.d., Why use a rubric? section, para. 1). I decided to include planning as an indicator after I spotted a rubric with planning and budgeting listed together. I also liked its level descriptions: initial, emerging, developed, and highly developed (WASC, 2007, p. 8). In her article DeWitt (2012) mentioned some as beginning, easy, practical, and inspiring (para. 6). Next, I'm off to translate rubric-ese from academic to public. - Alice References Dr. Patricia DeWitt. (2012, March 27). What is satisfactory performance? Measuring students and measuring programs with rubrics [Web log post, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment blog]. Retrieved on April 5, 2012, from http://illinois.edu/blog/view/915/72187?count=1&ACTION=DIALOG Manoa, University of Hawaii, (n.d.). Creating and using rubrics. Assessment How-to. Retrieved on March 31, 2012, from http://manoa.hawaii.edu/assessment/howto/rubrics.htm WASC [Western Association of Schools and Colleges]. (2007, August 10). New tools for teams and institutions: Rubrics for evaluating the effectiveness of assessment processes. Retrieved on March 31, 2012, from http://www.csufresno.edu/oie/assessment/documents/WASC_W13_Handout1_000.pdf
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4/6/2012 12:36:54 AM alheilig Posts: 1	Wow, this was not easy to find. I am having a bit of trouble maneuvering through the site and an even harder time working on my rubric within the site. I think I will just have to manipulate my rubric and import it. What a great resource this is, if only I had this when I was teaching! Rubrics are a key part of evaluation and their straightforwardness I think only enhances their popularity. I had one advisor though who hated rubric because she saw them as a crutch. I think that they are only a crutch if you only rely on them all the time. We are librarians, we have to think out of the box to stay relevant! Well, I will see you girls on BB.
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