What Are Rubrics?
A rubric is a grading device through which an instructor can clearly and succinctly delineate his/her/their expectations for an assignment or project (Carnegie Mellon, n.d.). A rubric most typically appears as a table, with grading criteria listed along one axis and performance levels along the other. Each square on the table contains a brief description of the criterion at that level of performance.
Why Are Rubrics Important?
Rubrics are an essential tool for instructors for two reasons: They speed up the grading process, and they help ensure uniformity in grading. Stevens and Levi (2013) state, “Rubrics are wonderful time savers and, for many of us, when first starting to use rubrics, timeliness is the main virtue that justifies their use” (p.18). Instead of writing the same comments again and again on your students term papers, you can merely indicate on the rubric the criterion and performance level. The description in that cell serves as the feedback for the student. Because rubrics cut down on the grading time, they enable instructors to get valuable feedback to students sooner.
Types of Rubrics
According to Jennifer Gonzalez at the web site Cult of Pedagogy (2014), there are three types of rubrics – analytic, holistic, and single-point. Each of them presents both advantages and disadvantages.
What follows are brief descriptions of the three types as well as an example of each. The three examples are all rubrics for a research paper. The examples are based on the work of Jennifer Gonzalez from Cult of Pedagogy (2014).
Analytic Rubric: In an analytic rubric, each criterion being considered for grading occupies its own row and the columns describe the various performance levels. Each cell contains a brief description of what the criterion looks like at that level. The main advantage of analytic rubrics is that they provide more specific feedback than do holistic rubrics. The main disadvantage is that they take a long time to create initially (Gonzalez, 2014). Please see Figure 1 below.
Holistic Rubric: In a holistic rubric, the various criteria being considered for grading are condensed into one row instead of having a unique row dedicated to each criterion. The primary advantage of the holistic rubric is that they take less time to develop up front. The main drawback is that they provide far less specific feedback to the students (Gonzalez, 2014). Please see Figure 2 below.
Single-point Rubric: A single-point rubric has just that – a sing point in terms of performance level description. Whatever the instructor deems to be the expected level of performance is provided in the rubric. To the right is s column for notes for when the student’s performance goes beyond those expectation, while to the left is a column for notes for when the performance falls short (Gonzalez, 2014).
Fig. 1: Analytic Rubric for a research paper
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score | |
| Research | research is spotty at best and/or poor or missing citations | research may be weak (some sources may lack credibility) and/orcitations may be problematic | research is good with a sufficient numbers of credible references; citations are good – very few errors with citations | more than the minimum number of credible references have been used; citations are perfect or near perfect | |
| Writing
|
writing is difficult to follow throughout the paper and/orcontains numerous errors | writing is hard to follow in places and/ordisplays several errors | strong writing (good thesis and support) with few errors | excellent writing (strong thesis and support) with very few or no errors | |
| Graphic Elements (charts, tables, graphs)
|
graphics are difficult or impossible to read or missing altogether | graphics are confusing and/or do not aid in comprehension of the subject matter | graphics are good and generally aid in comprehension of subject matter | graphics are easily readable and readily aid in comprehension of the subject matter |
Fig. 2: Holistic Rubric for a research paper
| Score | Description |
| 4 | more than the minimum number of credible references have been used; citations are perfect or near perfect; excellent writing (strong thesis and support) with very few or no errors; graphics are easily readable and readily aid in comprehension of the subject matter |
| 3 | research is good with a sufficient numbers of credible references; citations are good – very few errors with citations; strong writing (good thesis and support) with few errors; graphics are good and generally aid in comprehension of subject matter |
| 2 | research may be weak (some sources lack credibility) and/or citations may be problematic; writing is hard to follow in places and/or displays several errors; graphics are confusing and/or do not aid in comprehension of the subject matter |
| 1 | research is spotty at best and/or poor or missing citations; writing is difficult to follow throughout the paper and/or contains numerous errors; graphics are difficult or impossible to read or missing altogether |
Fig. 3: Single-point rubric for a research paper
| Needs Work | Criteria & Expected Level of Performance | Exceeds Expectations |
| Research: research is good with a sufficient numbers of credible references; citations are good – very few errors with citations
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| Writing: strong writing (good thesis and support) with few errors
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| Graphic Elements: graphics are good and generally aid in comprehension of subject matter
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Note: For more information about these three types of rubrics, please click here Cult of Pedagogy Rubrics.
References
Carnegie Mellon University. (n.d.) Creating and using rubrics. Eberly Center. https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/assesslearning/rubrics.html
Gonzalez, J. (May 1, 2014). Cult of Pedagogy. Know your terms: holistic, analytic, and single-point rubrics. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/holistic-analytic-single-point-rubrics/
Stevens, D.D. & Levi, A.J. (2013). Introduction to rubrics. Sterling: Stylus.