Learning assessment using a rubric
- Objective: Getting to know how to prepare and use a rubric to evaluate students' performance
- Outline: The need for using rubrics, types of rubrics, how to prepare rubrics, and how to use rubrics to evaluate the level of learning of students.
- Presented by: Prof. Hossein Memarian
Abstract: What is offered to students in the university is knowledge and skills, or in some cases, it leads to a change in their attitude. The amount of knowledge acquired by students can be evaluated using traditional methods, but skill performance cannot be easily measured and evaluated using traditional methods. In most courses of an undergraduate engineering program, the grades obtained by students range from zero to twenty. Yet in courses such as an undergraduate final project (capstone), which requires an oral presentation or written report, students' scores are often in the range of 17-20. One of the causes of this inconsistency in grading is the lack of a suitable method to evaluate such skill performances of students. An alternative method that largely solves this problem is to use a rubric. A rubric is a type of grading system that is used to evaluate quality performance according to specific criteria and standards. There is no single and unified set of rubrics, and rubric grading varies in different fields and subjects. By using the rubric, students' performance can be evaluated effectively. The rubric can be used to evaluate students during the semester or for final exams. A rubric can: a) provide ways to express expectations, especially when working with abstract processes or concepts; b) create a common language to help the teacher and learner discuss the expected learning; c) increase the validity of the assessment, when using multiple assessments; d) Provide feedback to the learner about different forms of assessment.
