A rubric is a way of assessing work that lists the critera for evaluating a student's work (for papers this might be: organization, use of evidence, etc.) and also explains the differences in quality in each criterion (Andrache). Since most of our students have never read a philosophy paper before, let alone written one, it is hardly surprisng that they don't know what makes a paper good or bad. They have never participated in philosophical discussions so they don't really know what constitutes useful participation. Creating rubric is a good way to help them understand what you are looking for before they start to write the paper. The rubric also saves enormous time in helping the professor explain to students why they got the grade they got. (In other words, this is finally a suggestion that can actually save time) The best way to understand the concept is to look at some samples:
- A helpful website with sample rubrics and a link to a PowerPoint presentation on rubrics from Danelle Stevens and Antonia Levy, who also do workshops on rubrics .
- Rubric for writing papers from Winona University.
- Generic paper rubric from Kelly Bender, "What Does the Letter Grade Mean?" Assessment Update. 16.6 (2006):11.
- Maralee Harrell (Carnegie Mellon University) has a detailed rubric specifically for grading philosophy papers. "Grading According to a Rubric." Teaching Philosophy. 28.1 (2005): 3-14. (See the article itself, available on line for the entire rubric).
- Rubrics can also be used for grading class participation, projects, or any other assignment. Adam Chapnick has a helpful rubric for participation, for a more general discussion of grading class discussion (and a less detailed rubric) see the article by Martha L. Maznevski.
- Christopher P. Long (Penn State) has a rubric for blog posts as part of his overall strategy of using blogs as the center piece of his course.
- We also have a rubric for oral presentations as part of our discussion of using class presentations as assignments.
Sources:
Heidi Goodrich Andrade, "Teaching with Rubrics: The Good Bad and the Ugly," College Teaching, 53.` (2005) 27-30.
Dannelle D. Stevens and Antonia J. Levi, Introduction To Rubrics: An Assessment Tool To Save Grading Time, Convey Effective Feedback and Promote Student Learning. Stylus Publishing (2004)
Author: John Immerwahr
Update: July 1, 2010