Creating Rubrics

Purpose

Before creating a rubric, one must first understand the purpose of the given assessment because the rubric must be designed to meet that purpose. The six most common purposes of rubrics are listed below. They need not be mutually exclusive in all cases.

Rubric Introduction

While many educators have heard of rubrics, many people have never even heard the word. We all use some form of rubric in our daily lives, even if they are not written down on paper. We might use a rubric in our mind to decide which food we like best on our plate. Is it too salty, just right, or not enough salt? In this article, we will take a look at rubrics; exploring what they are, what they do, why we need them, how we make them, how we use them, etc.

Assessing Learning Objectives

Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a useful structure in which to categorize test questions when assessing student learning. The table below describes skills demonstrated for each level of thinking according to Bloom as well as question cues that can be used to elicit student responses within that level. The same content information can be assessed at different levels of cognition. Here are some examples of test questions reflecting the six levels of learning according to Bloom.

Online Learning Explained

Many innovative instructors at institutions worldwide are discovering the potential of the online environment to deliver instruction of the highest quality to people who would otherwise have limited access to higher education. This is an exciting and challenging time in education. Simply defined, online education refers to courses offered via the Internet. The minimum requirement for students to participate in an online course is access to a computer, the Internet, and motivation to succeed in a non-traditional classroom.

Discussion Questions

As a new online instructor, you may have many questions about online learning and how it will function. At ION, we feel that taking an online course as a student will help to make you a better online instructor. Thinking through your answers to the questions below will help you begin to think through the dynamics of an online course. Completing this exercise with another instructor will hopefully generate a lot of thought provoking discussion since there are many right answers to each question.

Glossary of Online Terms

Acronym

A word (or a commonly pronounceable letter combination) formed by the initial letters of a phrase or title. In the online environment, people use acronyms to conserve time and space in an electronic message as well as to express humor. Examples are ASAP (as soon as possible), and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

Online Teaching Workshop

The Illinois Online Network presented a 6-hour workshop on online teaching and learning at the SLOAN-C (Now OLC) Conference, Orlando, FL in November of 2002. There were numerous topics and activities performed during this workshop. The links below show some of the presentations and activities that were completed.

An Online Course in a Nutshell

Teaching online requires many of the same skills and techniques instructors use in traditional classes, but there are some differences. In an online course, students access the course materials over the Web at any time of day or night. Often much of the information students acquire in the course comes from the class textbook (if one is assigned) and other readings, along with what they get from library research, Internet resources, and other resources.