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This site helps populate rubric language for a variety of assignment types. It also will generate a rubric sheet which you can print off / attach to student work.

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RubiStar is a tool to help the teacher who wants to use rubrics, but does not have the time to develop them from scratch.

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A University-Led Effort

The Digital Credentials Consortium was founded in 2018 by leading universities with expertise in the design of verifiable digital credentials. Together, we are designing an infrastructure for digital credentials of academic achievement.

Digital technology has a profound effect on the way we learn.

A wealth of materials is available to us at all times. We can easily connect with other learners, or communicate with our professors. Increasingly, technology is acting as personal guide that can support our individual interests and pathways. But the way we issue and manage academic credentials has not changed that much - and doesn't take advantage of the possibilities of digital technology.

What would an academic degree look like if it was designed today? Or a professional certificate? Or a certificate for an online course? As the question of trusted verification and authentication of learning and credentials poses itself with renewed urgency we need to rethink the way we recognize and transact with academic credentials.

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The Digital Credentials Consortium was founded in 2018 by leading universities with expertise in the design of verifiable digital credentials. Together, we are designing an infrastructure for digital credentials of academic achievement. A wealth of materials is available to us at all times. We can easily connect with other learners, or communicate with our professors.

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Canvas Credentials Digital Badges For Higher Ed | Instructure

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Increase Higher Ed enrollment and retention. Provide a seamless way for learners to record and share their validated skills and achievements with future employers.

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Why Use Rubrics?

Rubrics help instructors grade and provide feedback on assessments that have more than one correct answer in an efficient and equitable way. They facilitate transparency in grading, as well as increase consistency in scoring. When given alongside an assignment, students can use rubrics to gain understanding about the purpose of an assignment, to provide peer feedback, or to engage in self-assessment. Multiple graders or reviewers produce more consistent results when they have been trained in using the rubric and have been provided with exemplars (for reviews of the research see Jonsson & Svingby, 2007; Reddy & Andrade, 2010).

Three Elements of a Rubric

A rubric involves three elements: 1) the criteria for assessing the product or performance, 2) a range of quality levels, and 3) a scoring strategy. There is enormous flexibility for instructors to construct rubrics that reflect their teaching perspective within these three parameters.

Criteria define the distinct elements of expert or competent performance of the tasks central to the assignment. As the number of criteria increases, so does the amount of time required to review assignments. Too few criteria can lead to a rubric that does not effectively assess the range of knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to complete the task assigned. Generally, 4 to 6 criteria assess the breadth of competencies that are most essential to an assignment.

A single criterion can be used to create a holistic rubric with very general descriptions. Holistic rubrics do not provide targeted feedback and research suggests they are less consistently used. Holistic rubrics work well to speed grading for low stakes activities that only need very general feedback (e.g., discussion forum posts or responses). For more significant assignments, an analytic rubric with multiple criteria is more useful for reviewers and students. Effectively selecting the most important criteria is the first step to designing effective analytic rubrics. For examples of each type of rubric see the resource links below.

Quality Levels

Once the most essential criteria for competently completing the assignment have been identified, different quality levels need to be identified. Selecting the number of quality levels is a critical decision. While a greater number of quality levels allows for finer distinctions, more levels increase the time required to develop the rubric and to review assignments. In addition, research has shown that as the number of quality levels increases, consistency across graders or reviewers decreases. Considering the ultimate grade distinctions that will be made in the course can help determine the appropriate levels of quality for significant assignments.

The labeling of quality levels requires careful reflection. In learning contexts, instructors typically distinguish levels of competence, mastery, or expertise. This framing emphasizes a developmental teaching perspective and communicates a growth mindset. Instructors should beware of quality descriptors that demoralize students (e.g., incompetent, barely adequate, almost competent).

The most equitable rubrics create a detailed table describing the key features for each criteria at each quality level. Criteria are listed along the left-most column (often according to hierarchy of importance or process order) and quality levels are arranged across the top row of the table (either from low to high or high to low). Each of the remaining table cells is filled with a description of key features that can be observed for the specific criteria at that quality level. These often focus on key factors that represent bottlenecks in student learning or critical steps to increased levels of competence.

Scoring Strategy

Rubrics are flexible tools and instructors use a range of strategies to score student work using rubrics including:

1) Setting weights for each criterion, and single scores for each quality level. This approach speeds grading and minimizes discretion that might be a source of bias. Many digital tools support this strategy.

2) Weighting criteria and providing a range of scores for each quality level. This approach supports instructors interested in making more fine-grained distinctions.

3) Focusing on the overall combination of quality levels across criteria to assign a grade. This is a simplified grading structure that focuses on the overall grade and holistic judgment of the instructor or grader. For larger course enrollments, this strategy increases the risk of inconsistent or biased grading.

4) For drafts and formative assessments, focusing on providing students feedback with the rubric and simply assigning a complete or incomplete grade can be an efficient and effective strategy

Suggestions for Creating a Rubric

Determine the purpose of the assignment

Consider what, exactly, you want students to learn from the assignment. Write this down; it will guide the creation of criteria for your rubric.

Clearly establish criteria

Decide how you want to grade students. What elements of the assignment do you want to give them feedback on? This means determining the criteria associated with the task. To determine the criteria, think again about the goals of the assignment. What do you want students to accomplish? What do you want them to learn? Keep these criteria descriptions brief. Also, try to have an even, rather than an odd, number of criteria. This prevents the middle criterion from becoming a catch-all, allowing for more nuance in grading.

Determine the scoring method

Decide whether you will use a letter grade, percentages, points, a rating scale, or some other scoring method in your rubric. How will you label them? With numbers or descriptive labels?

Develop the descriptors of the criteria

Make sure the descriptors follow a logical progression. That is, descriptors indicating poor performance should be distinctly different from descriptors indicating high performance. And there should be consistency within the descriptors, meaning they should focus on particular attributes that carry through all criteria.

Be sensitive to language used

Rubrics offer a more objective means of assessing student work, but that doesn't mean they should assume a negative tone or offer an overly pointed critique of the learner. Try to refer to the assignment rather than the student when developing criteria. Avoid overly subjective language and use active voice where appropriate.

Explore results with hypothetical scoring combinations

Test your rubrics with a variety of scores for each criteria and see how significantly an outlier in one criterion will impact the overall grade. Consider whether adjustments to the weighting of criteria or the way points are allocated would more accurately reflect the appropriate grade.

Share your rubric with a colleague

Asking a colleague to review the rubric in advance is one of the best ways to ensure that your expectations are clear. You can ask colleagues to focus on specific elements of the rubric or to provide overall feedback.

Rubric Tools

Gradescope

Gradescope is a tool that enables efficient and transparent grading. Foremost, Gradescope prompts instructors to grade by question rather than by student. Within each question, the platform enables graders to create a dynamic, shared digital rubric that allows for expedited, collaborative grading and point altering.

The Canvas Rubrics tool can help you grade more quickly by providing an easy way to select the appropriate feedback, or grade by the same criteria for each student. After you attach a rubric to an assignment and configure it for grading, you can use the same grading criteria for all student submissions. Canvas will then automatically calculate the total score for you in Speedgrader.

Resources and Works Cited

Rubrics for Assessment from Northern Illinois University

Types of Rubrics from DePaul Teaching Commons

Types of Rubrics: Holistic and Analytic from Queen's University

Know Your Terms: Holistic. Analytic. And Single-Point Rubrics

Jonsson, A., & Svingby, G. (2007). The use of scoring rubrics: Reliability, validity and educational consequences. Educational Research Review, 2(2), 130-144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2007.05.002

Reddy, Y. M., & Andrade, H. (2010). A review of rubric use in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(4), 435-448. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930902862859

Additionally, Dannelle D. Stevens & Antonia J. Levi, An Introduction to Rubrics (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2005), is available as an online Brown Library resource and in the Sheridan Center's library.

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Designing Grading Rubrics | Sheridan Center | Brown University

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Rubrics help instructors grade and provide feedback on assessments that have more than one correct answer in an efficient and equitable way. They facilitate transparency in grading, as well as increase consistency in scoring. When given alongside an assignment, students can use rubrics to gain under…

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The RRA Test | Performance Task Quality Checklist

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Learning Target Feedback and Comments Tool [make a copy]

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Badges and other visual markers have a long history and rich symbolism associated with them. The Military and Police forces use badges to display hierarchy, authority and identity. Gamers use badges as a way of marking accomplishment and incentivizing participation. Boy and Girl Scouts use badges as symbols of shared experiences and evidence of tangible skills. The Web uses badges as evidence of peer-assessed respect.

Badges can be motivators to learn and collaborate, act as currency to enable further experiences and to recognize achievement. When the learning experiences behind a badge are appropriately designed and sized, they can enable small successes, encouraging learners that may be discouraged or overwhelmed by the length of commitment in other delivery methods compared to the timing of feedback. This is particularly critical in the case of adult learners or underserved groups who may be facing particular time constraints as well as identity issues relating to ability or pressure for success or failure.

Digital Badges in higher education also have an additional ability that is newly available - the ability to embed the badge into social platforms and have others "see into" the learning that has been accomplished via metadata that contains valuable information about the issuer, criteria, skills and evidence.

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Badges and other visual markers have a long history and rich symbolism associated with them. The Military and Police forces use badges to display hierarchy, authority and identity. Gamers use badges as a way of marking accomplishment and incentivizing participation. Boy and Girl Scouts use badges as symbols of shared experiences and evidence of tangible skills.

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The use of Open Badges is growing worldwide.

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Rubrics and Exemplars Save Time and Dramatically Improve Writing

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Rubrics and Exemplars Save Time and Dramatically Improve Writing

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Micro-credentials are a natural extension of the formal and informal learning activities individuals engage in every day

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Micro-credentials are a natural extension of the formal and informal learning activities individuals engage in every day

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All micro-credentials earned on Digital Promise's Micro-credential Platform are Open Badges. Open Badges are:

Verifiable

Open Badges can be verified for authenticity by the earner and by those providing recognition for the badge.

Portable

Open Badges can be transferred between any Open Badge standard-compliant system without losing or mishandling any achievement data.

Controllable

The earner of the Open Badge can control with whom they share their Open Badge and in what systems it lives.

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All micro-credentials earned on Digital Promise's Micro-credential Platform are Open Badges. Open Badges are: Verifiable Open Badges can be verified for authenticity by the earner and by those providing recognition for the badge. Portable Open Badges can be transferred between any Open Badge standard-compliant system without losing or mishandling any achievement data.

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Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs

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Microcredentials confuse employers, colleges and learners

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Three recent studies highlight confusion about alternative credentials. But all parties seek quality, verifiable, bite-size, low-priced online offerings targeting specific industries.

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A European approach to micro-credentials

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A European approach to micro-credentials

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On 16 June 2022, the Council of the European Union (EU) adopted a Recommendation on a European approach to micro-credentials for lifelong learning and employability . The Recommendation seeks to support the development, implementation and recognition of micro-credentials across institutions, businesses, sectors and borders.

An effective culture of lifelong learning is key to ensuring that everyone has the knowledge, skills and competences they need to thrive in their personal and professional lives.

Micro-credentials certify the learning outcomes of short-term learning experiences, for example a short course or training. They offer a flexible, targeted way to help people develop the knowledge, skills and competences they need for their personal and professional development.

Shorter forms of learning opportunities than traditional qualifications, such as micro-credentials, are being developed rapidly across Europe and around the world. These opportunities are made available by a wide variety of public and private providers in response to the demand for more flexible, learner-centred forms of education and training. They also have the potential to offer education and training opportunities to a wider range of learners, including disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.

However, without common standards ensuring their quality, transparency, cross-border comparability, recognition and portability, micro-credentials cannot reach their full potential.

Building trust and flexibility

The Council Recommendation aims to

enable individuals to acquire, update and improve the knowledge, skills and competences they need to thrive in an evolving labour market and society, to benefit fully from a socially fair recovery and just transitions to the green and digital economy and to be better equipped to deal with current and future challenges

support the preparedness of micro-credential providers to enhance the quality, transparency and flexibility of their learning offer to empower individuals to forge personalised learning and career pathways

foster inclusiveness, access and equal opportunities , and contribute to the achievement of resilience, social fairness and prosperity for all, in a context of demographic change and throughout all phases of economic cycles

The Recommendation provides building blocks including a definition, standard elements for describing micro-credentials, and principles for designing and issuing micro-credentials.

As a result, micro-credentials can be developed, used and compared in a coherent way among Member States, stakeholders and different providers (from education and training institutions to private companies) across different sectors, fields and borders. It will support the building of trust in micro-credentials across Europe.

The Recommendation will support the development and uptake of high-quality and transparent micro-credentials and outlines key areas for action in this field in education and training and labour markets policies. This will enable people to learn new skills in a tailored way, inclusive for all.

The European approach to micro-credentials is a key component of the Commission's vision to achieve a European Education Area by 2025.

Commission support for micro-credentials ecosystems

The Commission will support the implementation of the Recommendation by

fostering dialogue on how to use and adapt existing EU tools and services to support the development of micro-credentials by all types of providers

supporting the sharing of information and promoting best practices

exploring how the Europass platform could support the technical implementation of the Recommendation

providing funding support through the Erasmus+ programme

Background

The Recommendation is based on a put forward by the Commission on 10 December 2021, building on a wide consultation and evidence-gathering exercises. The Recommendation on a European approach to micro-credentials was adopted alongside another proposal on individual learning accounts on 16 June 2022.

Both proposals were part of the twelve flagship actions announced in the European Skills Agenda (July 2020).

Micro-credentials also feature in the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan (March 2021) and the (September 2020). Commission Communication on achieving the European Education Area by 2025

Related content

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A European approach to micro-credentials

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On 16 June 2022, the Council of the European Union (EU) adopted a Recommendation on a European approach to micro-credentials for lifelong learning and employability. The Recommendation seeks to support the development, implementation and recognition of micro-credentials across institutions, business…