Using Rubrics

Faculty are required to use the rubrics provided within the D2L classroom. To assist in the evaluation process, students are provided with an assignment rubric that is used by faculty to score their assignments. These rubrics are available in each D2L classroom and are specific to the assignment type as follows:

Signature Assignments and their Associated Scoring Rubrics. A signature assignment is a student artifact that represents scaffolded learning across course. It usually is that final assignment of the course, a research paper, a capstone project, etc. As such, the assignment is summative in nature only and directly reflects and measures course learning objectives, program learning goals, and university mission-based outcomes for both assignment grading and assessment of student learning purposes. It usually occurs in the last module of a course but can be in previous module such as Module 7. In many cases, students who do not pass the signature assignment also do not pass the course. Signature assignment rubrics permit faculty evaluation of student performance along a task-specific set of assignment criteria aligned with 4 standardized expectation levels—Does Not Meet, Approaches, Meets, and Exceeds Expectations—and point values assigned to each rubric cell. These rubrics are analytic, in that they have been built by analyzing the component parts of an assignment and including them in the criteria, hence they are criterion-referenced. Primary trait analysis is used to identify those criteria. Our analytic rubrics are signature assignment specific and are used for the assessment of student learning.

Assignment-Type Rubrics. Rubrics are important tools to direct students’ work effort toward needed behavioral changes. In most of the courses in D2L, you will find ‘assignment-type’ rubrics to help appropriately guide students to Aspen’s expectations for assignment deliverables. While they are not used for university assessment data collection and analysis, they also permit faculty evaluation of student performance along a task-specific set of assignment criteria aligned with 4 standardized expectation levels—Does Not Meet, Approaches, Meets, and Exceeds Expectations—and point values assigned to each rubric cell. Faculty should use these assignment-type rubrics to grade, provide feedback, and offer guidance in establishing expectations for discussion board responses and written work. Examples include rubrics for a PowerPoint, for an essay, for a journal entry, for discussion questions, for an article analysis, etc.

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