Use of Rubrics to Code Student Work - Report Example

NAME INSTITUTE TUTOR DATE Use of rubrics to code student work Introduction A rubric is scoring guide that aims to evaluate student’s performance in a number of criteria unlike the traditional methods that assess only one aspect. It is a reliable tool that measures student’s work in a classroom. Without this working guide, both students and teachers will not grade themselves in accordance to the course specifications. The rubric should be handed in to the learners early enough for them to be in a position to read and internalize the expectations they are required to meet at the end of the unit, course or term. This deduces that the quality of direct instruction will be of an advanced level. Another explanation of rubric is, a precise set of criteria used for task assessments. The level of aptitude is indicated in each criterion under study (Szpyrka and Smith, 1995). At times, the samples submitted to the tutor are as well included in the rubric. Numerical scores are indicated alongside the levels of achievement. At the end of the course, all these numerical scores are added and the resultant summations are a clear picture of the learner’s ability. On the rubric there is a slot left for the assessor to state various reasons that led to him or her making a particular judgment. Rubrics are for this reason far much better than the traditional methods which rely on multiple-choice questions and fill in the blanks assignments. These methods simply encourage rote learning rather than the useful understanding of the concept. Rubrics no doubt permit consistent evaluation for subjective work (Szpyrka and Smith, 1995). Parameters for assignments are put in place which grade students in all aspects thus fair distribution of marks. The evaluation given is a standardized one, evidence that the grading system is transparent and simpler to use because all the relevant traits under study have a slot in the grading system. This paper puts to study use of rubrics in assessing students’ assessments. We are going to argue for the statement that ‘using rubrics to code student work makes the expectations for success clear thereby solving the major problem of traditional assessments- the mystery of evaluating student performance’. Importance of rubrics Scholars argue that rubrics advance students’ performance at the end of the course. Since the learning objectives are clearly outlined and the marking sheet provided to the students, a lot of emphasis is laid on the end product by the learners (Szpyrka and Smith, 1995). One clear goal is outlined and that is to achieve the set standards. The traditionalists fail to outline this important concept. What is vivid is that the students have speckled ideas on the objective to be achieved. Most of them will concentrate in their work when the term is almost complete. This is a true picture of a rote learner whose aim is to pass exams only on a short term basis. Other attributes that they possess are not put into check. Their morale is diminished by the day and most end up perceiving education as meaningless. On the other hand, rubrics enable teachers evaluate students implicitly. The conditions of what is good and what is not are clearly outlined and presented to students beforehand. We can compare these students to the ones using the traditional modes. The ones using rubrics have sufficient time to make necessary preparations for their exams. The thought of assessment sinks in their minds, an aspect that leads to exemplary performances by the learners. This grid therefore provides scaffolding necessity to improve the quality of teaching by the teachers and the need to increase knowledge and proficiency by the learners in question. Rubrics are consequently an important tool that should be embraced by all the stakeholders in the educational sector. Rubrics assist in building on current knowledge by learners unlike the traditional strategies of multiple choice questions by the teachers to the learners. The rubrics give the teachers ample time to prepare thoroughly for their lessons (Szpyrka and Smith, 1995). The rubric consumes a lot of time in preparation. It is during this preparation that the teacher is able to research more on content covered and content not yet covered. The rubric acts as an evaluation, reconceptualizing and revisiting tool for content taught at different perspective. The lesson set to be taught is a result of a well researched and analyzed study. The teaching strategies are heuristic and allow for a lot of involvement of students in the teaching-learning process. The rubric remains constant throughout the set course time. This consistency creates room for excellence for the learners. This is in contrast to the teachers who don’t use this valued tool. Their students portray meager interest in studies and are always wondering what needs to be emphasized and what does not since the guidelines concerning teacher prospects are not explicit. The rubric produces coursework that are far more explanatory and descriptive rather than the traditional methods of simply allocating a single grade like a B plain or C+. What does this really imply? A mere grade like this may explain a guessed multiple choice assignment which relies on the day’s luck. A student may attain an A this term by guessing answers and the same student attain a D in the following term. No consistency is observed and the teacher may not be in a position to follow up such learners. The rubric on the other hand describes the quality of assignments on the basis of one or more criteria (Szpyrka and Smith, 1995). For instance, a history assignment on French Revolution may be assessed in diverse ways. First, the mastery of content may be awarded marks, correct dates given, quality of arguments and even the flow of ideas. If the same coursework is given to a learner with no rubric, he or she may tackle it haphazardly or even assume it because no emphasis is put on the expectations required. Teachers with rubrics are able to know in advance what criteria to use in assessing coursework. Teachers of diverse views are able to reach a conclusion on what aspects to assess. Student assignments can in turn be assessed by any teacher in that faculty or department. Quality work is ultimately achieved at the end of the day. Rubrics are objective in classroom settings. Fairness is given the bulk of all undertakings in the term in terms of allocation of marks to students. The culture of effective communication is cultivated in the students through constant communication on the contents of the rubrics. Majority of the students take the initiative to follow up their teachers to get aid on what seems ambiguous in the rubric. The learners who have not adopted this will have nothing to ask and their brain slates will continually remain empty. The same is reflected on their performances at the end of the term. Additionally, constant communication with the learners’ guardians enable them have a close watch on the learner’s progress. There are no misunderstandings in the expectations of the students both to their parents and themselves. The overworked teacher also benefits from these rubrics by having organized work which is a fact that many would want to achieve. The grading system is precise and to the point saving the teacher the hassle of trying to comprehend what the learner tries to bring out in his or her course work. It is no doubt that a comprehensive look at students’ performance is evident with the use of rubrics. The standards of learning are maintained by the teachers and in return quality education provision to the learners. Rubric ensures continuous success of the students’ performance. Rubrics establish benchmarks for achievements (Szpyrka and Smith, 1995). This is achieved when these score cards are distributed in the classrooms. Awareness of the anticipated standards is made clear to the students which result into quality work by the students. What needs to be emphasized is the objectiveness of the rubrics, consistency and justifiability in order to acquire the set objectives. The rubrics can be used in the pre-assessment phase of study to shed light on the grading system which gives the learners adequate time to make the necessary preparations. Self- assessments can be done aforementioned to the submission date which allows enough time for corrections by the learners. This cannot happen with learners who are still subjected to the traditional modes of teaching. During the assessment period the evaluators remain focused on the set objectives unlike in the traditional setting whereby other assessors may be biased on marks allocation may be due to uncovered work or even exhaustion during the exercise. Finally in the Post- assessment stage, the rubrics which are well filled in and detailed are returned to the learners. This assists them in polishing up their weaknesses and perfect on their strengths. This is different for the ‘traditional’ learners who get report forms filled with grades and short comments like ‘put more effort’ which do not have meaning. These phrases have become monotonous and predictable that learners don’t bother to look at any more. This is indeed a great difference that needs to be polished up otherwise the grades between these learners under the traditional methods will keep deteriorating. Rubrics provide opportunities for individual assessments which the traditional methods cannot. They are designed in such a way that student talents are graded. For instance, body language is assessed, the technical aspect in the case of power point presentations, voice projections, persuasion quality in terms of presentations in front of the public and many others. Students who are not gifted in terms of mastery of concepts may recover the lost marks in presentations. Their body languages and voice projections may be outstanding which earn the learner outstanding grades. We therefore pose this question, Is this possible in the traditional view? Absolutely not. They are only keen in the short answers written down, whether thought out or guessed does not matter. Learning becomes boring to these learners as well as meaningless. It is not fair as students with abilities in other areas are rendered useless. They feel unappreciated even if they put so much effort to perfect the talents they have. This is to say that fairness is not present in these grading systems unlike the use of rubrics that distribute the allocation of marks along various categories. The grading systems are put on the table proving the fact of effectiveness for all the students in a classroom undertaking a particular course. Rubrics provide a constant point of reference by learners after given assignments. The learners keep consulting their rubrics on the requirements of the assignments unlike in the traditional methods whereby some learners find themselves in problems which seem unsolvable. Some learners are not able to face their tutors for fear of being reprimanded or embarrassed. It would be easier for such a student to have a detailed rubric but unfortunately they found themselves under the care of teachers who still hold the conservative views of traditional teaching. Deprivations of these interactive notebooks ruin the lives of many innocent students who are not fortunate having the ability to grasp everything taught in a span of short time. If they are provided with rubrics it is possible to respond to their teachers not one on one but indirectly. Whichever the way, the message is put across to the ideal person. Rubrics are useful for self evaluation by the learners which is not possible for students without. Students are able to reflect their performance, review it and set work plans on how to improve the same. They may also encourage peer review to get additional ideas on the way forward. Rubrics create the sense of continuous learning unlike in the multiple- choice assessments that only aim to test learners at a designated time of the term. After undertaking the exam, no follow-up is done by the teachers who are exhausted from the excess number of students in class. No initiative is undertaken on the side of the student and parents who hold the notion that school work should be left to the teachers and principals in schools. Research has shown that parents who are constantly pestered by their children to look at their rubrics, they tend to have a lot of interest in their children’s school work. Those who don’t see this document work on the assumptions that everything is alright. When students are provided with the grading criteria, they are inclined to be keener on what they do in their class work for fear of failing in the final examinations. In short these students are geared to success. The teachers explain the requirements of the assignments in relation to the rubric assigned. The student’s authority is felt in the teaching-learning process. This is when what is intended to be covered is not done in a transparent way. They rise up and ask questions to the tutor which would not be asked by a student without the rubric. They are not enlightened enough and cannot tell if justice is not done to them by the tutors. With all the information at hand, the students with rubrics are alert in case of deviations by the tutors which may lead to poor content coverage. With this full armor, high-quality results are expected (Szpyrka and Smith, 1995). Conclusion In active learning situations, teachers are challenged to find effective ways of grading students that is acceptable by all the stakeholders beginning from the main beneficiaries students to the parents. Basically, rubrics are funnels for assigning scores to various tasks subjected to the learners in a particular term or even lesson. They are not assessments but criteria for assessing assignments. They are adamant on unambiguous assessment targets and prospects to the learner. It is palpable from our discussion that well defined rubrics assist students on a higher percentage how to carry out their assessments and achieve commendable grades. Most learners will strive to achieve triumph if they have the opportunity. The stated opportunity is simply the rubric that outlines the qualities to be assessed at the end of the term or course. More effort is exerted to meet these qualifications. It is consequently true to argue that using rubrics to code student work makes the expectations for success clear thereby solving the issues of traditional coursework assessments that have no basis or set criteria. Rubrics promote consistent grading and self-evaluation of the learners (Szpyrka and Smith, 1995). References Szpyrka, D. and Smith, E. B. (1995). Developing a rubric. Florida's Statewide Systemic Initiative: USA. Read More