Rubric Development

Category II: Technology Resources and Experiences

This assignment requires RubiStar, a free web-based tool to help the teacher who wants to use rubrics but does not always have the time to develop them from scratch. You can author, change and edit rubrics to meet your needs.

RubiStar now also provides a way for you to analyze the performance of your whole class. After your students have done the project and the rubric has been used to grade it, you can enter the data into RubiStar to determine which items are problematic for the class as a whole. This gives you the chance to:

  • reteach the material.
  • revise the project before presenting to next year's class.
  • provide more examples and practice of the skill.

Assignment

  1. Take time to visit the RubiStar website. Spend time with the tutorial; visit the New Inspiration page and check out the Rubric Analysis tool.
  2. Think about the science lesson you are building in SCED 475. Think about the kinds of activities, assignments and assessments that are part of, or may be related to, this lesson.
  3. Use Rubistar to create two rubrics to support two activities/assignments (you may want to create rubrics for different sections of your lesson (e.g., the explore and elaborate) and/or for a homework assignment that you would provide students as a follow-up to your lesson). Follow the directions on the website to make and edit the rubrics. Save them as suggested. View the completed rubics; when the rubrics are on the monitor, cut and paste them to a single Word document.
  4. In the Word document, provide both rubrics and briefly describe each in 50 words or less (place your newly created rubrics under the descriptions).
  5. Then, in a 200-400 word written discussion, address the following points:
    1. The role you feel rubrics play in the instructional process
    2. The role Rubistar could play in your teaching planning process
    3. The role you foresee Rubistar's rubric analysis tool playing in your teaching

Note: include this discussion as the summary of your Word document.

Submitting Your Assignment

Please save your work in a single Word document and make sure your name and your instructor's name are included in the document.

Follow the assignment submission instructions given to you by your instructor. Some instructors may ask you to email the assignment to them, others may prefer that you turn in a paper copy of your work, and some may ask you to submit your work via Beachboard. When in doubt, email your instructor to ask how to submit your work.