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Padlet is a tool for formative assessment that promotes interactive collaboration, supports diverse content types, offers flexible feedback options, provides customizable templates, ensures accessibility, facilitates data collection and analysis, and integrates with learning management systems. These features make it a valuable asset for educators looking to engage students in meaningful formative assessment activities.

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Pear Assessment is a versatile assessment platform that combines the ease of use needed for simple classroom assessments with the customization required to deploy common assessments at scale.

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Flipgrid offers a dynamic and interactive platform for formative assessment that promotes student engagement, collaboration, reflection, and personalized learning. Its video-based format, peer interaction features, customization options, and data analysis tools make it a valuable tool for educators seeking to assess student understanding and facilitate meaningful learning experiences.

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Gimkit offers a dynamic and engaging platform for formative assessment that promotes active learning, customization, adaptability, real-time feedback, data analysis, collaboration, and accessibility. These features make it a valuable tool for educators seeking to assess student understanding, reinforce learning, and promote academic achievement effectively.

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Mentimeter offers a dynamic and versatile platform for formative assessment that promotes engagement, real-time feedback, anonymity, customization, accessibility, data analysis, and integration with existing educational workflows. These features make it a valuable tool for educators seeking to assess student understanding, promote active learning, and improve instructional practices effectively.

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The AAC protocol outlines the purpose and goals of summative assessment within the context of Alberta's curriculum standards and educational objectives.

The AAC website provides various assessment methods and strategies used for summative assessment, including traditional tests, performance tasks, projects, and other forms of evaluation.

The AAC website specifies the criteria and standards used to evaluate student performance in different subject areas or competencies.

The AAC website provides guidelines for scoring student responses and assigning grades based on assessment results. This includes rubrics, grading scales, and other tools used to ensure consistency and fairness in grading.

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Summative Assessment - Alberta Assessment Consortium

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Judging Student Performance Download Complete Resource Judging Student Performance in Relation to Curriculum Outcomes Teachers need to be cognizant that performance is only based on what the student demonstrates relative to curricular outcomes. While other factors such as behavior or work habits can be reported, these factors must be kept separate from the demonstration of outcomes.

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Mote enhances the feedback process by providing a convenient, efficient, and personalized way for educators to deliver feedback to students. Its focus on voice feedback can lead to clearer communication, increased engagement, and ultimately, more impactful learning outcomes.

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Watch on YouTube

Tool Snapshot

Price

A basic mote account is free but it only allows 20 recordings per month that must be 30 seconds or less. Even with a basic account, audio comments can be added to any site using Mote. The unlimited account is $39.00 per user per year and it allows 180 seconds of recording time, voice-to-text transcriptions, and the ability to save and re-use motes. The school account pricing varies and it has the same benefits as the unlimited account as well as custom PD and onboarding.

Comparison of "Free, Unlimited, and Schools" pricing plans.

Type of Learning

Mote promotes behaviorism and constructionism. Motes provide students with audio feedback that reinforces the correctness and accuracy of their responses. Also, students' ability to make their own motes allows for constructionist-type learning.

Ease of Use

Once this google chrome extension is downloaded, it is extremely easy to use. After registering for an account, the site directs you to a document that both explains and demonstrates how to use Mote in five easy steps. Making voice comments is quick and easy. To add a mote on a google site is as simple as creating a comment. Motes can also easily be posted on other sites by copying and pasting the link the tool generates after the mote is created. However, users should beware that the site requires a chrome extension to make comments, although they can be listened to on any browser.

Privacy

Mote is COPPA, FERPA, and GDPR certified. This tool automatically collects every user's IP address and it also stores the first and last names, email addresses, and billing information of adult users. Mote uses this information to manage the account, communicate with the user, and inform users of new products and updates. Collected information is only shared with trusted partners for statistical analysis, to send mail, to provide customer support, or if it is requested by law. Mote does not sell information, but it does track users to customize content. The site deletes all data from accounts that have been inactive for longer than a year. Mote clearly lists data protection rights, is serious about breaches, and provides contact information for privacy concerns.

Accessibility

When using an accessibility evaluation tool, no errors were detected with Mote. For paying users, Mote improves accessibility by providing students with oral comments and also transcribing them. Additionally, the language of the transcription can be switched while using Mote. Voiceover and voice control both works to navigate the site, but it is not easy to make and listen to recordings with these features. Voice control does not allow users to highlight text and thus users can not use it to leave comments. Additionally, voice control works to play recordings but not to pause them. This would make it difficult for users with mobility and/or visual disabilities to make and listen to Motes.

Class Size

Individual pricing plans are available upon request for entire school districts. There is no information about the maximum number of users that a school district can have. Users with basic accounts can make 20 motes per month, but paying users are not limited.

Login

A login is required to create motes. However, students can listen to a mote without creating an account.

ISTE Standards

This tool aligns well with two of the ISTE Standards: Empowered Learner and Creative Communicator. Specifically, Mote meets the following two ISTE Standards for Students criteria: "Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways" and "Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences" ( ITSE, 2022)

10 Things to Know About Mote

Watch on YouTube

Video transcript
Mote & the SAMR Model

Dr. Ruben Puentedura's SAMR model offers a lens for examining how technology is adopted in a classroom. As you strive to incorporate online tools into your classroom, we encourage you to use this model as an analytic tool.

Here is an example of how Mote might fit within the SAMR model:

Substitution: Teachers leave an oral comment on a student's work via mote instead of giving them an oral comment in class.

Augmentation: Teachers can provide detailed feedback on a student's work in a faster time than writing out the feedback.

Modification: Teachers can track whether students have listened to their comments and prompt them to make edits.

Redefinition: Teachers and students can engage in asynchronous conversations over an extended period of time via the response features on Mote.

Far too often, technology is used as a direct substitute for other low-tech tools (e.g., making an oral comment instead of a written comment). While substitution has some benefits (e.g., feedback is multimodal and students develop their technology skills and knowledge), we encourage you to think about how you might use Mote to modify or redefine learning.

Learning Activities

Math

Students can record themselves thinking aloud as they solve a math problem. For example, you might ask students to talk out loud as they calculate the perimeter of a room in their living area or solve an algebraic equation.

Science

Students can record an observation of a chemical reaction. For example, you might ask students to mix equal parts baking soda and vinegar and describe what they see happening. The STEM feature of Mote also allows for symbols, formulas, etc... to appear in proper notation in the transcription.

Example of using STEM mode to type Pythagorean theorem in scientific notation

English/Language Arts

Students can place a mote anywhere on an image on a website/google slide, so you could ask students to record a mote to share their opinion on a polarizing topic (like whether the death of the star-crossed lovers in Romeo and Juliet was fate or free will) and then place it on the left or right side of the image.

Plot with "Idea Left Spectrum" connected to "Idea Right Spectrum" with a double arrow

Health

Students can record an interview with a friend or family member about how to be active and how to take care of their mental well-being.

Music

Have students record a short clip of them singing each note. Create an organizer with each note written as a letter (E, G, B, D, F, A, C) and shown on sheet music. Leave a spot for students to attach the corresponding recording for each note.

Other

Verbal rubrics.

Live reactions to experiments.

Response posts and virtual class discussions.

Example Mote activities

Resources

How to Use Mote

10-minute tutorial

Watch on YouTube

1. Go to https://www.mote.com

2. Click "Sign Up free" and register for an account

3. Connect Mote to the browser

1. Using Chrome, open a Google application

2. Press the puzzle piece in the top right corner and select the Mote icon to pin the extension to the browser

4. Enable voice-to-text

1. Open "Settings & Help"

2. Turn on "voice-to-text"

3. Choose the desired language

5. Create a Mote

1. Highlight the text

2. Double click to add a comment

3. Select the Mote icon

4. Record the comment

5. Press the check to finish the recording or the x to redo it

6. Select the pencil to review and edit the Mote

7. Edit the transcription

8. Save

9. Translate the transcription if desired

10. Select "comment" to post the Mote

6. Copy and paste the Mote link to a different site to share it elsewhere

7. Reuse a Mote using Motebank

1. Select "Save as" and name the Mote after recording

2. Go to where the comment is needed

3. Press and hold the Mote icon

4. Select the file from Motebank

5. Press "comment"

Research

Ice, P., Curtis, R., Phillips, P. & Wells, J. (2007). Using asynchronous audio feedback to enhance teaching presence and students' sense of community. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11(2). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ842694

King, D., McGugan, S., Bunyan, N. (2008). Does it make a difference? Replacing text with audio feedbac k. Practice and Evidence of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 3(2). https://www.pestlhe.org/index.php/pestlhe/article/view/136

Merry, S. & Orsmond, P. (2007). Students' responses to academic feedback are provided via MP3 audio files. Paper presented to the Science Learning and Teaching Conference 2007. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paul-Orsmond/publication/267991907_Students%27_responses_to_academic_feedback_provided_via_MP3_audio_files/links/5464851e0cf2c0c6aec56df2/Students-responses-to-academic-feedback-provided-via-MP3-audio-files.pdf

Author

This page was created by Josephine Beckett.

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Mote is an audio-based feedback tool that saves time, improves connection, and expands access. This assessment tool is a Google for Education partner that has been used to give feedback more than 30 million times by over one million users (Mote, 2022).

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Ziplet allows students to submit feedback anonymously, which can encourage honesty and openness in their responses. This anonymity can lead to more candid feedback, providing educators with valuable insights into students' perspectives.

Ziplet offers multiple feedback formats, including text responses, multiple-choice questions, and polls. This flexibility allows educators to gather feedback on various aspects of teaching and learning, such as lesson effectiveness, student engagement, and understanding of concepts.

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The AAC website offers many tools and resources to build reliable and valid rubrics that are used for assessments in the classroom.

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Rubric Materials - Alberta Assessment Consortium

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Building Better Rubrics! Resource Links to Support Building Better Rubrics Rubric Templates Rubric Template (download Word document) Rubric Template (enlarged) (download Word document) Workshop Tools Rubriques Rubriques - Tools Rubriques - Templates Gabarit grilles d'évaluation (download Word document) Gabarit grilles d'évaluation (version agrandie) (download Word document)

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Rubric Best Practices, Examples, and Templates

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Rubric Best Practices, Examples, and Templates

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This resource provides many wonderful tools and examples on how to build effective rubrics.

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Instructors have many tasks to perform during the semester, including grading assignments and assessments. Feedback on performance is a critical factor in helping students improve and succeed. Grading rubrics can provide more consistent feedback for students and create efficiency for the instructor/grader.

A rubric is a scoring tool that identifies the different criteria relevant to an assignment, assessment, or learning outcome and states the possible levels of achievement in a specific, clear, and objective way. Use rubrics to assess project-based student work, including essays, group projects, creative endeavors, and oral presentations. Rubrics are helpful for instructors because they can help them communicate expectations to students and assess student work fairly and efficiently. Finally, rubrics can provide students with informative feedback on their strengths and weaknesses so that they can reflect on their performance and work on areas that need improvement.

How to Get Started

Step 1: Define the Purpose

The first step in the rubric-creation process is to define the purpose of the assignment or assessment for which you are creating a rubric. To do this, consider the following questions:

What is the assignment?

Does the assignment break down into different or smaller tasks?

Are these tasks equally important as the main assignment?

What are the learning objectives for the assignment?

What do you want students to demonstrate through the completion of this assignment?

What would an excellent assignment look like?

How would you describe an acceptable assignment?

How would you describe an assignment that falls below expectations?

What kind of feedback do you want to give students for their work?

Do you want/need to give them a grade? If so, do you want to give them a single overall grade or detailed feedback based on a variety of criteria?

Do you want to give students specific feedback that will help them improve their future work?

Step 2: Decide What Kind of Rubric You Will Use

Types of rubrics: holistic, analytic/descriptive, single-point

Holistic Rubric. A holistic rubric consists of a single scale with all the criteria to be included in the evaluation (such as clarity, organization, mechanics, etc.) being considered together. With a holistic rubric, the rater or grader assigns a single score (usually on a 1-4 or 1-6 point scale) based on an overall judgment of the student's work. The rater matches an entire piece of student work to a single description on the scale.

Advantages of holistic rubrics:

Place an emphasis on what learners can demonstrate rather than what they cannot

Save time by minimizing the number of decisions to be made

Can be used consistently across raters, provided they have all been trained

Disadvantages of holistic rubrics:

Do not provide specific feedback for improvement

Can be difficult to choose a score when a student's work is at varying levels across the criteria

Criteria cannot be weighted

Analytic/Descriptive Rubric. An analytic rubric resembles a grid with the criteria for an assignment listed in the left column and with levels of performance listed across the top row, often using numbers and/or descriptive tags. The cells within the center of the rubric may be left blank or may contain descriptions of what the specified criteria look like for each level of performance. When scoring with an analytic rubric, each of the criteria is scored individually.

Advantages of analytic rubrics:

Provide feedback on areas of strength or weakness

Each criterion can be weighted to reflect its relative importance

Disadvantages of analytic rubrics:

More time-consuming to create and use than a holistic rubric

May not be used consistently across raters unless the rubrics are well defined

May limit personalized feedback to help students improve

Single-Point Rubric. Similar to an analytic/descriptive rubric in that it breaks down the components of an assignment into different criteria. The detailed performance descriptors are only for the level of proficiency. Feedback space is provided for instructors to give individualized comments to help students improve and/or show where they excelled beyond the proficiency descriptors.

Advantages of single-point rubrics:

Easier to create than an analytic/descriptive rubric

More likely that students will read the descriptors

Areas of concern and excellence are open-ended removes a focus on the grade/points

May increase student creativity in project-based assignments

Disadvantages of analytic rubrics:

Requires more work for instructors writing feedback

Step 3: Define the Criteria

Ask yourself: What knowledge and skills are required for the assignment/assessment? Make a list of these, group and label them, and eliminate any that are not critical.

Helpful strategies for defining grading criteria:

Review the learning objectives for the course; use the assignment prompt, existing grading checklists, peer response sheets, comments on previous work, past examples of student work, etc.

Try describing A/B/C work.

Consider "sentence starters" with verbs describing student performance from Bloom's Taxonomy or other terms to indicate various levels of performance, i.e., presence to absence, complete to incomplete, many to some to none, major to minor, consistent to inconsistent, always to usually to sometimes to rarely

Collaborate with co-instructors, teaching assistants, and other colleagues

Brainstorm and discuss with students

Consider the effectiveness of the criteria:

Can they be observed and measured?

Are they important and essential?

Are they distinct from other criteria?

Are they phrased in precise, unambiguous language?

Revise the criteria as needed

Consider how you will weigh them in relation to each other

Step 4: Design the Rating Scale

Most ratings scales include between 3 and 5 levels. Consider the following questions:

Given what students are able to demonstrate in this assignment/assessment, what are the possible levels of achievement?

Will you use numbers or descriptive labels for these levels?

If you choose descriptive labels, what labels are most appropriate? Will you assign a number to those labels?

In what order will you list these levels - from lowest to highest or vice versa?

Step 5: Write Descriptions for Each Level of the Rating Scale

Create statements of expected performance at each level of the rubric. For an analytic rubric, do this for each particular criterion of the rubric. These descriptions help students understand your expectations and their performance in regard to those expectations.

Start with the top/exemplary work category -what does it look like when a student has achieved excellence in each category? Then look at the "bottom" category -what does it look like when students have not achieved the learning goals in any way? Then add the categories in between.

Also, take into consideration that well-written descriptions:

Describe observable and measurable behavior

Use parallel language across the scale

Indicate the degree to which the standards are met

Step 6: Create your Rubric

Develop the criteria, rating scale, and descriptions for each level of the rating scale into a rubric

Include the assignment at the top of the rubric, space permitting

For reading and grading ease, limit the rubric to a single page, if possible

Consider the effectiveness of your rubric and revise accordingly

Create your rubric in a table or spreadsheet in Word, Google Docs, Sheets, etc., and then transfer it by typing it into Moodle. You can also use online tools to create the rubric, but you will still have to type the criteria, indicators, levels, etc., into Moodle. Rubric creators: Rubistar, iRubric

Step 7: Pilot-test your Rubric

Prior to implementing your rubric on a live course, obtain feedback from:

Colleagues

Teacher Assistants

Students

Also, try out your new rubric on a sample of student work. After you pilot-test your rubric, analyze the results to consider its effectiveness and revise accordingly.

Best Practices

Use Parallel Language. Make sure that the language from column to column is similar and that syntax and wording correspond. Of course, the words will change for each section or assignment, as will the expectations, but in terms of readability, make sure that the rubric can be easily read from left to right or vice versa. In addition, if you have an indicator described in one category, it will need to be described in the next category, whether it is about "having included" or "not having included" something. This is all about clarity and transparency to students.

Use Student-Friendly Language. If students can't understand the rubric, it will not be useful for guiding instruction, reflection, and assessment. If you want students to engage in using the rubric, they have to understand it. Make sure the language is learning-level appropriate. If you use academic language or concepts, you will need to teach those concepts.

Use the Rubric with Your Students. You have to use the rubric with the students. It means nothing to them if you don't. For students to find the rubric useful in terms of their learning, they must see a reason for using it. Students should understand that the rubric is there to help them learn, reflect, and self-assess. If students use a rubric, they will understand the expectations and their relevance to learning.

Don't Use Too Many Columns. The rubric needs to be comprehensible and organized. Pick the right amount of columns so that the criteria flow logically and naturally across levels.

Common Rubrics and Templates are Awesome. Avoid rubric fatigue, as in creating rubrics to the point where you just can't do it anymore. This can be done with common rubrics that students see across multiple classroom activities and through creating templates that you can alter slightly as needed. Design those templates for learning targets or similar performance tasks in your classroom. It's easy to change these types of rubrics later. Figure out your common practices and create a single rubric your team can use.

Rely on Descriptive Language. The most effective descriptions are those that use specific descriptions. This means avoiding words like "good" and "excellent." At the same time, don't rely on numbers, such as a number of resources, as your crutch. Instead of saying, "find excellent sources" or "use three sources," focus your rubric language on the quality use of whatever sources students find and on the best possible way of aligning that data to the work. It isn't about the number of sources, and "excellent" is too vague for students. Be specific and descriptive.

Examples

Example of an analytic rubric for a final paper

Needs Improvement (1) Developing (2) Sufficient (3) Above Average (4)

Clarity (Thesis supported by relevant information and ideas)

The purpose of the student work is not well-defined. Central ideas are not focused to support the thesis. Thoughts appear disconnected.

The central purpose of the student work is identified. Ideas are generally focused in a way that supports the thesis.

The central purpose of the student work is clear and ideas are almost always focused in a way that supports the thesis. Relevant details illustrate the author's ideas.

The central purpose of the student work is clear and supporting ideas always are always well-focused. Details are relevant, enrich the work.

Organization (Sequencing of elements/ ideas)

Information and ideas are poorly sequenced (the author jumps around). The audience has difficulty following the thread of thought.

Information and ideas are presented in an order that the audience can follow with minimum difficulty.

Information and ideas are presented in a logical sequence which is followed by the reader with little or no difficulty.

Information and ideas are presented in a logical sequence which flows naturally and is engaging to the audience.

Mechanics (Correctness of grammar and spelling)

There are five or more misspellings and/or systematic grammatical errors per page or eight or more in the entire document. The readability of the work is seriously hampered by errors.

There are no more than four misspellings and/or systematic grammatical errors per page or six or more in the entire document. Errors distract from the work.

There are no more than three misspellings and/or grammatical errors per page and no more than five in the entire document. The readability of the work is minimally interrupted by errors.

There are no more than two misspelled words or grammatical errors in the document.

Example of a holistic rubric for a final paper

Articulating thoughts through written communication- final paper.

1. Above Average: The audience is able to easily identify the focus of the work and is engaged by its clear focus and relevant details. Information is presented logically and naturally. There are no more than two mechanical errors or misspelled words to distract the reader.

2. Sufficient: The audience is easily able to identify the focus of the student work which is supported by relevant ideas and supporting details. Information is presented in a logical manner that is easily followed. There is minimal interruption to the work due to misspellings and/or mechanical errors.

3. Developing: The audience can identify the central purpose of the student work without little difficulty and supporting ideas are present and clear. The information is presented in an orderly fashion that can be followed with little difficulty. There are some misspellings or mechanical errors, but they do not distract from the work.

4. Needs Improvement: The audience cannot clearly or easily identify the central ideas or purpose of the student work. Information is presented in a disorganized fashion causing the audience to have difficulty following the author's ideas. There are many misspellings and/or mechanical errors that negatively affect the audience's ability to read the work.

Single-Point Rubric

Moodle How-To Guides

Technology Tools: Rubrics in Moodle

Resources

Supplemental Tools with Rubrics in Moodle

DELTA - Rubrics: Making Assignments Easier for You and Your Students (2/1/2022)

DePaul University (n.d.). Rubrics. Retrieved from http://resources.depaul.edu/teaching-commons/teaching-guides/feedback-grading/rubrics/Pages/default.aspx

Gonzalez, J. (2014). Know your terms: Holistic, Analytic, and Single-Point Rubrics. Cult of Pedagogy. Retrieved from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/holistic-analytic-single-point-rubrics/

Goodrich, H. (1996). Understanding rubrics. Teaching for Authentic Student Performance, 54 (4), 14-17. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec96/vol54/num04/Understanding-Rubrics.aspx

Miller, A. (2012). Tame the beast: tips for designing and using rubrics. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/designing-using-rubrics-andrew-miller

Ragupathi, K., Lee, A. (2020). Beyond Fairness and Consistency in Grading: The Role of Rubrics in Higher Education. In: Sanger, C., Gleason, N. (eds) Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1628-3_3

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Rubric Best Practices, Examples, and Templates

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Instructors have many tasks to perform during the semester, including grading assignments and assessments. Feedback on performance is a critical factor in helping students improve and succeed. Grading rubrics can provide more consistent feedback for students and create efficiency for the instructor/grader.

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The University of Alberta website offers resources on how to build effective rubrics and why rubrics are vital in the assessment process.

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In this video, Ellen Watson, educational developer, explains how she created an analytic rubric including criteria selection, creating weightings and values, and writing descriptors for each level for criteria. Watch here

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In this video, Ellen Watson, educational developer, explains how she created an analytic rubric including criteria selection, creating weightings and values, and writing descriptors for each level for criteria. Watch here

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This article provides valuable information on what backwards design is and why it is beneficial in the classroom. It also includes information on how to implement this practice into your own practice.

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This articles provides information on the key practices that are involved in backwards design.

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Principles of Backward Design
Tasmanian Department of Education
http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/planning/models/princbackdesign.htm.
NOTE:
This guide consists of the Principles of Backward Design by the Tasmanian (Australia)
Department of Education, which is based on the Expanded 2nd edition of the book
Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins &amp; Jay McTighe, which was published in
2005 by Pearson Education and the Association for Supervision &amp; Curriculum
Development.
I have added several figures and templates from the book. If you want more information,
the 1998 edition is available in Cravens at LB2806.15 .W54 1998 and the 2005 edition is
in the ERC at LB2806.15 .W54 2005. I am also placing my copy of the 2005 edition on
reserve in the VPAL.
*****
The backward design process of Wiggins &amp; McTighe begins with the end in mind:
One starts with the end - the desired results (goals or standards) - and then derives the
curriculum from the evidence of learning (performances) called for by the standard and
the teaching needed to equip students to perform (Wiggins and McTighe, 2000, page 8).
The design process involves teachers planning in 3 stages, each with a focusing question:
*
Stage 1 - What is worthy and requiring of understanding?
*
Stage 2 - What is evidence of understanding?
*
Stage 3 - What learning experiences and teaching promote understanding, interest and
excellence?
2
Figure 1.2, 1-Page Template with Design Questions for Teachers, p. 22.
Stage 1 - Desired Results
Established Goals:
* What relevant goals (e.g., content standards, course or program objectives, learning outcomes) will this design
address?
Understandings:
Q Essential Questions:
Students will understand that . . .
* What provocative questions will foster inquiry,
* What are the big ideas?
understanding, and transfer of learning?
* What specific understandings about them are
desired?
* What misunderstandings are predictable?
Students will know. . .
A Students will be able to . . .
* What key knowledge and skills will students
acquire as a result of this unit?
* What should they eventually be able to do as a
result of such knowledge and skills?
Stage 2 - Assessment Evidence
Performance Tasks:
Other Evidence:
* Through what authentic performance tasks will
* Through what other evidence (e.g., quizzes, tests,
students demonstrate the desired understandings?
academic prompts, observations, homework, journals) will students demonstrate achievement of
* By what criteria will performances of
the desired results?
understanding be judged?
* How will students reflect upon and self-assess
their learning?
Stage 3 - Learning Plan
Learning Activities:
What learning experiences and instruction will enable students to achieve the desired results? How will the
design:
W = Help the students know Where the unit is going and What is expected? Help the teacher know Where the
students are coming from (prior knowledge, interests)?
H = Hook all students and Hold their interest?
E = Equip students, help them Experience the key ideas and Explore the issues?
R = Provide opportunities to Rethink and Revise their understandings and work?
E = Allow students to Evaluate their work and its implication's?
T = Be Tailored (personalized) to the different needs, interests, and abilities of learners?
0 = Be Organized to maximize initial and sustained engagement as well as effective learning?
Stage 1
Using the principles of backward design, teachers focus first on learning goals (understanding goals).
These are the enduring understandings that they want their students to have developed at the
completion of the learning sequence. There is also a focus on a number of essential, or guiding,
questions. Enduring understandings go beyond facts and skills to focus on larger concepts, principles
or processes.
3
Based on Figure 3.1, Key Design Elements with Prompts, p. 57.
Stage 1
Identify Desired Results
Established Goals:
* Identify one or more goals (e.g., content standards, course or program objectives, and
learning outcomes) that the design targets.
What understandings are desired? Students will understand that . . .
* Identify the Enduring Understandings, based on the transferable big Ideas that give the
content meaning and connect the facts and skills.
What essential questions will be considered?
* Frame the Essential Questions to guide student inquiry and focus Instruction for
uncovering the Important ideas of the content.
What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit? Students will know... Students
will be able to . . .
* Identify the key Knowledge and Skills we want students to know and be able to do. The
targeted knowledge and skills can be of three different kinds:
(1) They can refer to the building blocks for the desired understandings;
(2) They can refer to the knowledge and skills stated or implied in the goals; and
(3) They can refer to the &quot;enabling&quot; knowledge and skills needed to perform the
complex assessment tasks Identified In Stage 2.
Examples of enduring understandings and essential or guiding questions include:
*
What do we mean by "all men are created equal"?
*
What does it mean to live a healthy life?
*
What does it mean to be independent?
*
Systems are interdependent
*
Living things change
Design tip for big ideas (p. 77)
In skill-focused courses of study, look for big ideas in
* The value of the skill-what the skill helps you do more effectively or efficiently
* Underlying concepts (e.g., "persuasion" when teaching the skills of persuasive writing or debate)
* Issues of strategy-effective techniques, including when to use a particular skill
* Why the skill works-the theories underlying the skill, so that greater transfer can happen
4
Figure 1.4, UbD Design Standards, p. 28.
Stage 1-To what extent does the design focus on the big ideas of targeted content?
Consider: Are . . .
* The targeted understandings enduring, based on transferable, big Ideas at the heart of the
discipline and in need of uncoverage?
* The targeted understandings framed by questions that spark meaningful connections, provoke
genuine inquiry and deep thought, and encourage transfer?
* The essential questions provocative, arguable, and likely to generate inquiry around the central
ideas (rather than a &quot;pat&quot; answer)?
* Appropriate goals (e.g., content standards, benchmarks, curriculum objectives) identified?
* Valid and unit-relevant knowledge and skills identified?
[NOTE: There is a difference between overarching questions and topical questions. Essential
and guiding questions are broad and overarching. They challenge students to think critically
about the broader content. Although topical questions are important, this is not what they mean
at this point - Bryan]
Figure 5.2, An Essential Question Chart, p. 116.
Intent
Open:
* To challenge students to
think more deeply and
creatively about important
recurring and unsettled
issues.
* Teachers pose these
arguable questions as a
means of engaging
students in thinking like
experts in the field. No
definitive answer is
expected.
Guiding:
* To guide student inquiry
toward a deeper
understanding of a big idea,
teachers pose these
questions as a means of
uncovering desired
understandings.
* Students construct
meaning as they wrestle
with the question.
Scope of the Question
Overarching
These are broad and deep questions
that remain open and alive in the
discipline-perhaps forever. They cut
across unit, course, and sometimes
subject boundaries.
* To what extent is U.S. history a
history of progress? What is
&quot;progress&quot;?
* To what extent is DNA destiny?
* Who is a true friend?
Topical
These questions stimulate
inquiry and deepen
understanding of important
ideas within the unit. It is not
expected that they will be
answered by unit's end.
* How might Congress have
better protected minority
rights in the 1950s and
1960s?
* Should we require DNA
samples from every
convicted criminal?
* Should Frog have lied to
Toad?
These are general questions that cut These are unit-specific questions
across unit, course, and subject
that converge toward one or a
boundaries but that yield one or
few settled understandings of
more desired understandings.
important ideas.
* How much progress in civil
* What were the defining
rights has the United States
moments of the civil rights
made since the founding of the
movement?
country?
* How is reliability ensured in
* How do recent developments in
DNA testing?
genetics affect the
* In what ways was Frog
nature/nurture argument?
acting like a friend in the
* What are the signs of a &quot;fair
story?
weather&quot; friend?
5
Wiggins and McTighe suggest the following 'filters' for arriving at worthwhile understandings:
* represent a big idea having enduring value beyond the classroom
* reside at the heart of the discipline (involve 'doing' the subject)
*
*
require uncoverage (of abstract or often misunderstood ideas)
offer potential for engaging students.
The understandings selected may be overarching understandings (those broad understandings that we
may hope to achieve by the end of the year or over a few years, to which the sequence is contributing),
or sequence / unit understandings (those we hope to achieve through the learning sequence). Both are
required in planning.
Stage 2
Teachers then decide how their students will demonstrate their understanding. Wiggins and McTighe
describe 'six facets of understanding'. They believe that students truly understand when they:
* Can explain
*
Can interpret
Can apply
Have perspective
Can empathize
*
Have self-knowledge
*
*
*
Chapter 4 of Understanding by Design provides a clear definition of each facet, accompanied by a
clear example in the form of a quote from another source, related questions, two valid examples and
one invalid example. The six facets make a considerable contribution to understanding the nature of
understanding and the various ways in which we may show, or come to, an understanding. Just as with
learning styles, students favor some facts, or are stronger in some facets than they are in others. The
challenge for teachers is to develop each of the facets in all students. These six facets are continually
emphasized at each stage of the design process and in particular the second step - determining
acceptable evidence.
Figure 8.2, Facet-Related Criteria, p. 177.
*
*
*
*
*
Facet 1
Explanation
accurate
coherent
justified
systematic
predictive
Facet 2
Interpretation
* meaningful
* insightful
* significant
* illustrative
* illuminating
*
*
*
*
*
Facet 3
Application
effective
efficient
fluent
adaptive
graceful
*
*
*
*
*
Facet 4
Perspective
credible
revealing
insightful
plausible
unusual
*
*
*
*
*
Facet 5
Empathy
sensitive
open
receptive
perceptive
tactful
Facet 6
Self-knowledge
* self-aware
* metacognitiv
e
* selfadjusting
* reflective
6
This part of the planning process is what makes 'backward design' quite different from more
conventional planning processes. Before planning learning experiences to develop understandings,
teachers are required to plan a range of assessments. Whilst the emphasis is clearly on developing
performance tasks, Wiggins and McTighe advocate a balanced use of assessment, including more
traditional forms such as observation, quizzes, tests etc.
The range of assessment tasks and performances selected must:
* support students in developing understanding
* give students opportunities to demonstrate that understanding.
The tasks must also identify and differentiate levels or degrees of understanding.
An important emphasis is that assessment is part of the learning process and should occur throughout
the sequence, not just at the end.
Based on Figure 3.1, Key Design Elements with Prompts, p. 57.
Stage 2-To what extent do the assessments provide
fair, valid, reliable, and sufficient measures of the desired results?
Consider: Are . . .
* Students asked to exhibit their understanding through authentic performance tasks?
* Appropriate criterion-based scoring tools used to evaluate student products and performances?
* Various appropriate assessment formats used to provide additional evidence of learning?
* The assessments used as feedback for students and teachers, as well as for evaluation?
* Students encouraged to self-assess?
Stage 3
In the third stage of the backward design process, teachers design the sequence of learning experiences
that students will undertake to develop understanding.
Beyond learning about a subject, students will need lessons that enable them to
experience directly the inquiries, arguments, applications, and points of view
underneath the facts and opinions they learn if they are to understand them. (Wiggins
and McTighe, p 99).
The learning experiences require the students to:
[T]heorize, interpret, use, or see in perspective what they are asked to learn...(or) they will not likely
understand it or grasp that their job is more than recall. (Wiggins and McTighe, p 100).
Experiences must blend depth and breadth, and may require choices and compromises. Those
experiences that are undertaken for depth might require students to unearth, analyze, question, prove
and generalize. Those giving breadth require students to make connections, to picture (represent or
model) and to extend (go beyond).
The emphasis is clearly on an inquiry-based approach that requires 'uncovering' the chosen content.
7
Based on Figure 3.1, Key Design Elements with Prompts, p. 57.
Stage 3
To what extent is the learning plan effective and engaging?
Consider: Will the students . . .
* Know where they're going (the learning goals), why the material is important (reason for learning the
content), and what is required of them (unit goal, performance requirements, and evaluative criteria)?
* Be hooked - engaged in digging into the big ideas (e.g., through inquiry, research, problem solving, and
experimentation)?
* Have adequate opportunities to explore and experience big ideas and receive instruction to equip them for
the required performances?
* Have sufficient opportunities to rethink, rehearse, revise, and refine their work based upon timely
feedback?
* Have an opportunity to evaluate their work, reflect on their learning, and set goals?
Consider: Is the learning plan . . .
* Tailored and flexible to address the interests and learning styles of all students?
* Organized and sequenced to maximize engagement and effectiveness?
Overall Design
To what extent is the entire unit coherent, with the elements of all three stages aligned?
Review and refine
Like all planning models, backward design requires revision and refinements throughout the planning
process.
Creating a unit using the backward design planning process is not a neat, tidy or easy process. It is a
recursive one; you will move back and forth across the curriculum map, making revisions and
refinements each time you add something to a section of your planning. (From
http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/BackwardDesign/BDstep5.htm).
Backward design and the Essential Learnings
This is a useful framework to employ when using the backward design model. This framework links
the three stages of the model with Essential Learnings Frameworks and with other useful documents.
Backward Design Planning Framework
http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/Planning/models/design_questions.htm
8
Figure 9.4, Question Exploration Guide, p. 212.
What is the Critical Question?
* How does the destruction of the rain/forest contribute to the greenhouse effect?
What are the key terms and explanations?
Rain forest
| A thick evergreen forest, in a hot, wet area
Greenhouse
| A glass house that traps heat for growing plants easily
Greenhouse effect
| An event in which C02 in the atmosphere absorbs and holds the
| earth's heat instead of allowing it to leave
What are the Supporting Questions and answers?
What is happening to the forests?
| They are being burned so that farmers have more land to grow
crops.
What does the burning cause?
| 1. The burning releases more C02 into the atmosphere, and
| 2. The C02 that the forest once removed stays in the atmosphere.
|
What is the effect of the increase in C02? | 1. Increased C02 traps heat in the atmosphere, creating a
greenhouse
| effect; this means that:
| 2. The earth is becoming warmer.
What is the Main Idea?
When rain forests are burned, the resulting increase of CO contributes to the greenhouse effect.
How can we use the Main Idea?
How would cutting rather than burning the rain forests affect the atmosphere?
Is there an Overall Idea? A real-world use?
Overall idea: What happens in one part of the world can affect us all.
Real-world use: Any event that happened in one part of the world affecting others.
9
Figure 5.3, Question Starters Based on the Six Facets of Understanding, p. 120.
Who
? What
? When
What is the key concept/idea in
What are examples of
What are the characteristics/parts of
How might we prove/'confirm/justify
How is
connected to
What might happen if
What are common misconceptions about
Explanation
? How
? Why
?
?
?
? Why is this so?
?
?
?
?
Interpretation
What is the meaning of
What does
How is
like
How does
?
reveal about
?
(analogy/metaphor)?
relate to me/us? So what? Why does it matter?
Application
?
How and when can we use this (knowledge/process)
How is
applied in the larger world?
How could we use
to overcome
(obstacle, constraint, challenge)?
Perspective
What are different points of view about
How might this look from
's perspective?
How is
similar to/different from
What are other possible reactions to
What are the strengths and weaknesses of
What are the limits of
What is the evidence for
?
?
?
?
?
? Is the evidence reliable? Sufficient?
Empathy
What would it be like to walk in
's shoes?
How might
feel about
?
How might we reach an understanding about
?
What was
trying to make us feel/see?
Self-Knowledge
How do I know
What are the limits of my knowledge about
What are my &quot;blind spots&quot; about
How can I best show
How are my views about
shaped by
What are my strengths and weaknesses in
?
?
?
?
(experiences, assumptions, habits, prejudices, style)?
?
10
11
References
Good references for backward design include:
Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Expanded 2nd Edition. (Upper Saddle
River, NJ/Alexandria, VA: Pearson Education/Association for Supervision &amp; Curriculum
Development, 2005).
Overview of backward design and (FAQ) Frequently Asked Questions (this site also has a number of
other very useful pages about the process). http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/612/BackwardDesign/Overview.htm [Accessed 31st August, 2004].
A PowerPoint on Understanding by Design, developed from Wiggins and McTighe's book about
Backward Design, which is a very good introduction and explanation of the key points of the
process http://www.iearn.org/civics/may2003workshop/Understanding by Design Teaching
Ellen Meier CTSC.pdf [Accessed 31st August, 2004].
A helpful description of the backward design process and a template for planning
http://digitalliteracy.mwg.org/curriculum/process.html [Accessed 31st August, 2004].
Ravenswood Heights [a school system in Tasmania] used backward design and have some
recommendations for others http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/transschools/ravenswd.htm
[Accessed 31st August, 2004].
This page has been produced by the School Education Division [Government of Tasmania]. Its content has been authorized
by the Executive Director (Curriculum Standards and Support). Questions concerning its content may be directed by email
to ltag@education.tas.gov.au. This page was last modified on Friday, 05 November 2004.
The URL for this page is http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/planning/models/princbackdesign.htm.
You are directed to a disclaimer and copyright notice governing the information provided.
[Note: I am using this guide under the terms of the Tasmanian copyright notice. I am also using the figures from
Understanding by Design under the Fair Use provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act. So my distributing this within the library
is legal. - Bryan]

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Free essays, homework help, flashcards, research papers, book reports, term papers, history, science, politics

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This website provides information about what formative and summative assessment is and how they differ. It speaks on the importance of both forms of assessment.

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Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning

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Summative and Formative Assessment

Although many instructors think of assessing student learning as synonymous with the process of arriving at a grade for student work, assessment can be used for other purposes and in other ways as well:

to evaluate students' work or their understanding of course concepts

to communicate to the student how well their work or understanding compares to stated criteria or to other students' work

to motivate students to work to understand course material

to organize a course by providing a transition between major sections

The process of arriving at a grade for a student (either for a test or assignment, or for an entire course) is known as summative assessment. Summative assessments (e.g., exams or term papers) are formal, usually graded, and focused on letting students show a range of skills and knowledge. They require a considerable investment of time, both from students and from instructors, and are consequently often completed outside of class.

To design a good summative assessment, it is important to begin with the course goals. What skills and knowledge should students have gained in the course? Once this question has been answered, an instructor can create assignments that will allow students to demonstrate that they have reached the course goals. Good summative assessments are authentic, in the sense that they require students to think like practitioners of the discipline (Wiggins, 1998). To learn more about how to make an assignment authentic, see the CITL resource on Authentic Assessment.

In contrast, formative assessment is assessment of student learning that is designed to improve (rather than to evaluate) students' skills or their understanding of specific course concepts. Formative assessments are typically done in class, can be anonymous, and are usually much more focused on particular skills or information. Formative assessments provide information to students as well as instructors about how well students understand specific course concepts, and are typically low-stakes, in the sense that they are often ungraded. The table below contrasts the two kinds of assessment.

A classic type of formative assessment is Classroom Assessment Techniques, or CATs. CATs are learner-centered, teacher-directed, mutually beneficial formative assessments that can be tailored to specific disciplines and teaching contexts.

Another widely-used type of formative assessment is the Conceptest (Mazur, 2001). A Conceptest is a multiple-choice question that tests students' conceptual understanding of material presented in class. For more information, see these videos:

A well-designed course will have a balance of formative and summative assessments. An instructor might use CATs or other formative assessments while students are learning new material, to check on their understanding of the new concepts. The results of the formative assessments tell both the students and the instructor whether or not students are ready to move on to new material. After the instructor has determined that students have the knowledge and skills they will need, she can assign a summative assessment to allow them to show their new knowledge and skills.
References
Wiggins, G. (1998). Educative Assessment: Designing Assessments to Inform and Improve Student Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Angelo, T.A. and Cross, K.P. (1993) Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

This is the original classic (and encyclopedic) volume defining CATs. It describes 50 different CATS and includes examples of how each can be used in the classroom.

Crouch, C. H. and Mazur, E. (2001). Peer instruction: Ten years of experience and results. Am. J. Phys., 69, 970-977.
http://web.mit.edu/jbelcher/www/TEALref/Crouch_Mazur.pdf
This article by Catherine Crouch and Erik Mazur summarizes data from 10 years of teaching using Mazur's Peer Instruction methods (which includes Conceptests), demonstrating that students taught using Peer Instruction more effectively master course concepts.

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Although many instructors think of assessing student learning as synonymous with the process of arriving at a grade for student work, assessment can be used for other purposes and in other ways as well: to evaluate students' work or their understanding of course concepts to communicate to the student how

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This website again, offers many useful tips on how to build effective rubrics in alignment with reliability and validity.

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Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning

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Rubric Creation and Use

A rubric is a tool for evaluating and grading student work; it specifies the qualities or traits to be evaluated in an assignment and describes excellent, average, and below-average performance for each trait. Typically, a rubric is not a generic statement of expectations for student work; rather, it is tailored to describe the specific requirements for a particular assignment.

While rubrics are commonly use to evaluate student written work such as essays and research papers, they can be used for other types of assignments as well, such as oral presentations, posters, portfolios, or major projects. Rubrics can also be used in group projects as a way for team members to evaluate each other's contributions to the final product.

Most rubrics include several parts:

Traits: the qualities or aspects of student work to be evaluated. Traits are usually expressed as nouns or noun phrases (e.g., "thesis," "graphic design elements," "accuracy of analysis," "eye contact," "grammar and mechanics").

Performance levels: the categories of performance into which student work will be assigned for a particular trait; for example, Excellent/Good/Fair/Poor; Exceeds/Meets/Fails to Meet Expectations, etc.

Descriptors: Brief descriptions of student work on a particular trait at a specific performance level

Why use rubrics?

For instructors as well as for students, using a rubric to grade an assignment has a number of advantages. A rubric can:

Guarantee that instructor use the same standards for all students' work, preventing grading "drift" over time

Specify all traits to be evaluated in student work are specified - no "hidden agendas"

Promote equity by ensuring that all students understand the criteria by which their work will be evaluated (for more on the use of rubrics as an aspect of transparency and equity in grading, see this CITL resource on Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT)

Serve as a training resource when multiple graders or AIs grade an assignment

Make grading faster and more straightforward (although they require time to create)

Decrease the number of student complaints about grades

Can provide evidence on overall levels of student competence on particular traits to help instructors assess students' strengths and weaknesses, for their own information or as part of larger assessment efforts

What types of rubrics are there?

There are three general categories of rubrics: analytic, holistic, and single-point. Each has distinct advantages and disadvantages. In deciding what type of rubric to create, the main consideration should be the instructor's preference.

Analytic rubrics

An analytic rubric gives a student a separate rating or score on each trait evaluated in an assignment. An analytic rubric is typically organized in a grid, with each trait in a row and each performance level in a column. Each individual cell of the grid contains a descriptor with the characteristics of performance at that performance level on that trait.

Time-consuming to create, but can make grading or scoring of student work easier and faster

Gives students detailed feedback on various aspects of their work

Can include point values for each trait and performance level to facilitate assigning numerical scores to student work

Can be created within Canvas to simplify grading, using the the SpeedGrader tool

Holistic rubrics

Rather than evaluating each trait separately, as in an analytic rubric, a holistic rubric gives each student one overall score or grade for their work. A typical holistic rubric lists each level of performance followed by a description of student work at that level, incorporating descriptors for all the traits being evaluated. An instructor using a holistic rubric matches an entire piece of student work to the single rubric level that best describes the work.

Easy to create, because it reflects how some instructors think

Score or grade gives students less specific feedback on their work than an analytic rubric does

A good option for large classes, or when only general feedback on student work is required

An essay earning an A:

An essay earning a B:

An essay earning a C:

An essay earning a D:

Single-point rubrics

A single-point rubric is similar to an analytic rubric in that it breaks down performance into separate traits. But instead of providing descriptors for each performance level for each trait, a single-point rubric describes performance only at a proficient or competent level for each trait. It does not specify how performance might exceed or fall short of proficiency.

Easy to create

Time-consuming to use because instructor must write in a description of how a student's performance on a particular trait falls short of or exceeds proficiency

Provides very specific, targeted feedback

Does not require instructor to imagine all the different ways students' work could exceed or fail to meet expectations for proficiency

Areas where essay has exceeded standards Criteria and standards for essays earning a grade of B Areas for Improvement

Answer to the question posed: Answers question clearly, but at a superficial level

Research and use of evidence: Uses all available sources of evidence; outside sources are relevant to the topic

Quality of argument: Argument is clear but may be a bit vague in places; evidence is used effectively to support the argument; counterarguments are not addressed

Organization: Strong thesis statement; paragraphs are mostly well-organized, but one or two may lack clear transitions

Quality of writing: One or two minor grammatical errors phrasing is clear.

What are the steps in creating a rubric?

1. Choose an assignment you want to create a rubric for.

2. Look at examples of student work responding to the assignment, if available. Reflect on what makes the examples successful or unsuccessful, and what you hope to see in student work.

3. Based on your reflection on the assignment and your analysis of student examples, determine the traits to be included in the rubric. These questions may help you identify traits.

1. What would a very strong response to this assignment look like? What characteristics would it have?

2. What kinds of mistakes might students make on this assignment? In what ways might their work fall short?

3. What kinds of feedback do you want to give students about this assignment?

4. Decide what kind of rubric to create.

1. What type of rubric seems most appropriate for the type of assignment you've chosen?

2. Do you want the rubric to provide a numerical score or an overall grade?

3. How much detailed feedback do you need to provide for this assignment?

5. For analytic or holistic rubrics, decide on the number of performance levels you will include, and label each level (with letter grades, numerical scores, or verbal labels such as Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor).

6. For an analytic rubric:

1. Create a grid with traits listed in the left-hand column and performance levels across the top row. Write descriptors for each level of each trait in the cells of the grid. Avoid vague adjectives; instead, list specific things you would look for. It might be easiest to start by writing descriptors for the highest and lowest levels of performance, then filling in the intermediate levels. A simple template for an analytical rubric is provided here.

2. If appropriate, make the rubric quantitative by assigning points to levels of performance, and/or different weights to specific traits.

7. For a holistic rubric:

1. Write a description of student work at each performance level of the rubric. Make sure the description at each level mentions each of the traits you identified.

2. It might be easiest to start by describing the highest level of performance, and then modifying the descriptors for lower levels of performance. Alternatively, you could start by describing a level of performance that is "acceptable but not exceptional," and then modifying the descriptors for higher or lower levels of performance.

8. For a single-point rubric:

1. Write a descriptor for each trait at a level of performance that is acceptable but not exceptional. Depending on the levels of performance you have chosen, you might think of this level as "good," a grade of B, or a level at which students have fulfilled all the requirements of the assignment.

2. Create a grid with 3 columns; in the rows of the middle column, enter a descriptor for each of the traits you created. The column on one side is for writing in feedback about how the work exceeded the acceptable level for that trait; the column on the other is for feedback about how the work fell short.

9. Regardless of the type of rubric you create, before you distribute it to students, it is a good idea to apply the rubric to a few examples of student work (perhaps from a previous semester) to confirm that the rubric delivers the grade you think the student work should earn. Are all important traits included in the rubric? Do the levels describe the full range of student work? Are the gradations between levels appropriate? If not, revise the rubric and recalibrate it.

How should I use the rubric?

A rubric is not only a tool for grading student work after it has been turned in; it can also help students focus their time and effort appropriately as they work on an assignment, and it can serve as a formative tool to provide feedback on intermediate stages of student work.

When an assignment is made: Distribute a rubric for an assignment along with the assignment itself, before students begin their work. Students can use the rubric to help them understand your expectations and organize their effort accordingly.

As students are working on an assignment:

Use the rubric to provide feedback to students at intermediate stages of a larger project, or formative feedback on early drafts of papers. Using the rubric in this way gives students a sense of what they still need to work on to succeed on the assignment.

If students will be peer-reviewing each other's work, they can use the rubric as a guide when giving formative feedback. This strategy not only ensures that the peer reviews are focused on the important aspects of student work; it also helps students become familiar with the rubric.

After student work is handed in:

Use the rubric to provide feedback on student work and derive a grade.

A rubric can serve as a sort of tally sheet to help you keep track of overall levels of student performance, to help you reflect on students' strengths and areas for further growth.

After using a rubric, it is also helpful to reflect on the rubric itself. Did it include all the traits you wanted to evaluate? Did it accurately describe different levels of student performance? Did the grades or scores derived from the rubric seem fair?

How can I use a rubric in Canvas?

Canvas allows instructors to create analytic rubrics to grade assignments, discussions, and quizzes. Student work submitted online can be graded using the rubric in SpeedGrader. Specific traits in the rubric can also be attached to pre-defined learning outcomes (e.g., for reporting data for Gen Ed or department or school level assessment).

To learn more about rubrics in Canvas, see the Canvas Instructor Guide or IU's Technology Toolfinder .

Where can I see other examples of rubrics?

The links below provide more information about creating and using rubrics, and they include examples of rubrics from a variety of disciplines and for different kinds of assignments.

For more assistance with creating or using rubrics in your teaching, contact the CITL for an appointment.

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This page provides recommendation on the use of rubrics for grading.

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Reading-Writing-Think offers a variety of interactive tools and resources that allow students to actively engage in self-assessment. These tools include graphic organizers, rubrics, and self-assessment checklists, which guide students through the process of evaluating their own work.

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Promoting Student Self-Assessment | Read Write Think

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Making Report Cards Parent Friendly Archives

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Making Report Cards Parent Friendly Archives

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The AAC website offers information about how to make report cards parent friendly so that they can actively engage and interpret the assessment data.

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Making Report Cards Parent Friendly Archives - Alberta Assessment Consortium

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Authentic Assessment Checklists, Editable planning templates to create authentic performance tasks (AAC's own, PBL, UbD, GRASPS) and five videos on creating a performance assessment task for your classroom.

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The AAC website offers a wealth of resources related to assessment, including best practices, research, and tools. Educators can access guidance on designing effective assessments, interpreting assessment data, and implementing assessment strategies aligned with Alberta's curriculum standards.

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Purpose of a Report Card - Alberta Assessment Consortium

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Report cards, sometimes called progress reports, provide written records of student performance on curriculum outcomes over a period of time. The School Act states that one of the roles of teachers is to “regularly evaluate students and periodically report the results of the evaluation to the studen…

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This articles provides vital information about the best practices in summative assessment. It speaks on validity and reliability.

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QuestionWell provides educators with a convenient and efficient tool for test construction, offering access to a diverse range of high-quality questions, customization options, scalability, and alignment with curriculum standards. These features can help educators create assessments that effectively measure student learning outcomes and support instructional goals.

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This article provides information about effective summative assessment practices and why they are needed to ensure a fair assessment protocol.

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We know that summative assessment drives practice in schools. We also know that current forms of summative assessment inhibit both curriculum and pedagogical innovation because of their focus on 'knowledge' (as viewed in a knowledge based curriculum). The challenge is to find new forms of summative assessment which satisfy the criteria against which they will be judged. Those criteria should include:

Validity and reliability

At its most basic validity is the extent to which the assessment measures what it is intended to measure. There are many facets of this, including:

does it measure what it appears to measure (e.g. if a science exam requires extensive reading and writing competence then it may be testing literacy rather than science);

does it measure the things that are important (i.e. the things we want children to have learnt).

Reliability is about the extent to which the outcomes are both accurate and consistent (e.g. would two people who are equally competent in the thing that is being measured end up with the same result every time?).

The validity and reliability of an assessment capture the extent to which it is relevant and credible. Critically, unless an assessment is measuring the things that are important then it can't be effective, no matter how reliable and valid in other ways it might be. It has to be measuring something that is relevant as well as being credible.

Practical and scalable

Assessment has to be practical in the sense of it being feasible to implement. The more time consuming, expensive and operationally difficult it is to carry out an assessment the less likely it is to be used.

Within the formal education system large numbers of learners need to be assessed. The more practical the assessment is then the more scaleable it is likely to be.

Assessment that is integral to the learning process is more practical than assessment that is an additional discrete activity.

Formative and positive

Even when the key objective of assessment is summative it should also inform future learning (i.e. be formative). Summative assessments that serve a formative purpose are better than those that do not.

Whilst criticism can enhance learning, it normally only does so when it is constructive. Effective assessment should also be constructive, for example by focussing on successes rather than failures.

Ethical

Clearly, it is important that every element of education, including assessment, is ethical.

It would be unethical for assessment to damage one person in order to benefit another. It should therefore be criterion rather than norm referenced (because norm referencing dooms some people to fail in order for others to succeed).

Ethical assessment should enable everyone to succeed - through being at an appropriate level for each learner and/or through the provision of multiple pathways to success.

It would also be unethical to assess people covertly, for example collecting data about them without their knowledge or consent. Indeed, the way in which assessment outcomes are determined should be transparent - assessment should not be a black box.

Single use

Finally, the way in which an assessment is used is critical. Any one assessment should be being used for one clearly identified purpose. If the aim is to assess student achievements then that should be the only purpose for which the assessment is used - such assessments should NOT also be being used to evaluate the quality of educational provision (teaching/the school).

Where an assessment is being used both to assess the students' learning and the quality of education provision this often leads to gaming of the system. For example:

schools offering study options that maximise the benefits for the school rather than for the student;

teachers increasing pressure on students to do well because the teacher is concerned about how the assessment outcomes will reflect on their performance;

schools targeting support on students who are just below grade boundaries because that is more beneficial for the school than trying to raise all students' grades.

In some senses this overlaps with the issue of validity - the assessment measuring what it claims to measure (e.g. students performance OR teaching quality). However, it is such a critical issue that it needs to be pulled out as a separate criterion. Many of the worst consequences of current summative assessment practices are related to dual use of summative assessment outcomes data.

Easily reported

As the key element of summative assessment is to evaluate what someone has learnt up to that point in time, having a concise summary of the outcomes of the assessment is important. This facilitates comparison (with their previous performance and/or with external standards and/or with other learners).

Conclusion

Devising assessments that meet all of these criteria is incredibly difficult, not least because there may be conflicts between the criteria. However, we surely must be able to do better than continue to use norm-referenced, paper-based terminal exams that only result in a grade (e.g. A to F or 9 to 1) and which are used to judge the quality of schooling as well as students' learning.
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Note - This post supersedes an earlier draft.

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We know that summative assessment drives practice in schools. We also know that current forms of summative assessment inhibit both curriculum and pedagogical innovation because of their focus on 'knowledge' (as viewed in a knowledge based curriculum). The challenge is to find new forms of summative assessment which satisfy the criteria against which they will be judged.

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Gradescope streamlines the grading process by allowing instructors to grade assignments online. It offers tools such as rubric-based grading, which enables consistent and efficient evaluation of student work.

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Plickers offers a user-friendly, versatile, and engaging platform for formative assessment that promotes real-time data collection, anonymity, versatility in question types, immediate feedback, data analysis, engagement, and accessibility. These features make it a valuable tool for educators seeking to assess student understanding and inform instructional practices effectively.

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Magic School Ai can tailor assessments to individual students' learning levels and styles, providing a more accurate measure of their understanding and progress.

It can provide students with instant feedback on their performance, allowing them to identify areas of weakness and take corrective action more efficiently.

Magic School Ai can adjust the difficulty of questions based on students' responses, ensuring that assessments remain challenging yet achievable for each individual.

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Eduaide provides a variety of assessment types as it supports various types of assessments, including multiple-choice questions, short answer responses, essays, and even interactive multimedia tasks. This versatility allows educators to assess different skills and knowledge domains effectively.

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7 Smart, Fast Formative Assessment Strategies

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7 Smart, Fast Formative Assessment Strategies

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This article provides teachers will fast and effective procedures on how to formatively assess students in the classroom to understand where each student is at in their learning journey.

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Formative assessment-discovering what students know while they're still in the process of learning it-can be tricky. Designing just the right assessment can feel high stakes-for teachers, not students-because we're using it to figure out what comes next. Are we ready to move on? Do our students need a different path into the concepts? Or, more likely, which students are ready to move on and which need a different path?

When it comes to figuring out what our students really know, we have to look at more than one kind of information. A single data point-no matter how well designed the quiz, presentation, or problem behind it-isn't enough information to help us plan the next step in our instruction.

Add to that the fact that different learning tasks are best measured in different ways, and we can see why we need a variety of formative assessment tools we can deploy quickly, seamlessly, and in a low-stakes way-all while not creating an unmanageable workload. That's why it's important to keep it simple: Formative assessments generally just need to be checked, not graded, as the point is to get a basic read on the progress of individuals, or the class as a whole.

7 Approaches to Formative Assessment

1. Entry and exit slips: Those marginal minutes at the beginning and end of class can provide some great opportunities to find out what kids remember. Start the class off with a quick question about the previous day's work while students are getting settled-you can ask differentiated questions written out on chart paper or projected on the board, for example.

A quick way to see the big picture if you use paper exit tickets is to sort the papers into three piles: Students got the point; they sort of got it; and they didn't get it. The size of the stacks is your clue about what to do next.

No matter the tool, the key to keeping students engaged in the process of just-walked-in or almost-out-the-door formative assessment is the questions. Ask students to write for one minute on the most meaningful thing they learned. You can try prompts like:

What are three things you learned, two things you're still curious about, and one thing you don't understand?

How would you have done things differently today, if you had the choice?

What I found interesting about this work was...

Right now I'm feeling...

Today was hard because...

Or skip the words completely and have students draw or circle emojis to represent their assessment of their understanding.

2. Low-stakes quizzes and polls: If you want to find out whether your students really know as much as you think they know, polls and quizzes created with Socrative or Quizlet or in-class games and tools like Quizalize, Kahoot, FlipQuiz, Gimkit, Plickers, and Flippity can help you get a better sense of how much they really understand. (Grading quizzes but assigning low point values is a great way to make sure students really try: The quizzes matter, but an individual low score can't kill a student's grade.) Kids in many classes are always logged in to these tools, so formative assessments can be done very quickly. Teachers can see each kid's response, and determine both individually and in aggregate how students are doing.

Because you can design the questions yourself, you determine the level of complexity. Ask questions at the bottom of Bloom's taxonomy and you'll get insight into what facts, vocabulary terms, or processes kids remember. Ask more complicated questions ("What advice do you think Katniss Everdeen would offer Scout Finch if the two of them were talking at the end of chapter 3?"), and you'll get more sophisticated insights.

3. Dipsticks: So-called alternative formative assessments are meant to be as easy and quick as checking the oil in your car, so they're sometimes referred to as dipsticks. These can be things like asking students to:

write a letter explaining a key idea to a friend,

draw a sketch to visually represent new knowledge, or

do a think, pair, share exercise with a partner.

Your own observations of students at work in class can provide valuable data as well, but they can be tricky to keep track of. Taking quick notes on a tablet or smartphone, or using a copy of your roster, is one approach. A focused observation form is more formal and can help you narrow your note-taking focus as you watch students work.

4. Interview assessments: If you want to dig a little deeper into students' understanding of content, try discussion-based assessment methods. Casual chats with students in the classroom can help them feel at ease even as you get a sense of what they know, and you may find that five-minute interview assessments work really well. Five minutes per student would take quite a bit of time, but you don't have to talk to every student about every project or lesson.

You can also shift some of this work to students using a peer-feedback process called TAG feedback (Tell your peer something they did well, Ask a thoughtful question, Give a positive suggestion). When you have students share the feedback they have for a peer, you gain insight into both students' learning.

For more introverted students-or for more private assessments-use Flipgrid, Explain Everything, or Seesaw to have students record their answers to prompts and demonstrate what they can do.

5. Methods that incorporate art: Consider using visual art or photography or videography as an assessment tool. Whether students draw, create a collage, or sculpt, you may find that the assessment helps them synthesize their learning. Or think beyond the visual and have kids act out their understanding of the content. They can create a dance to model cell mitosis or act out stories like Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" to explore the subtext.

6. Misconceptions and errors: Sometimes it's helpful to see if students understand why something is incorrect or why a concept is hard. Ask students to explain the " muddiest point" in the lesson-the place where things got confusing or particularly difficult or where they still lack clarity. Or do a misconception check: Present students with a common misunderstanding and ask them to apply previous knowledge to correct the mistake, or ask them to decide if a statement contains any mistakes at all, and then discuss their answers.

You can use sticky notes to get a quick insight into what areas your kids think they need to work on. Ask them to pick their own trouble spot from three or four areas where you think the class as a whole needs work, and write those areas in separate columns on a whiteboard. Have you students answer on a sticky note and then put the note in the correct column-you can see the results at a glance.

Several self-assessments let the teacher see what every kid thinks very quickly. For example, you can use colored stacking cups that allow kids to flag that they're all set (green cup), working through some confusion (yellow), or really confused and in need of help (red).

Similar strategies involve using participation cards for discussions (each student has three cards-"I agree," "I disagree," and "I don't know how to respond") and thumbs-up responses (instead of raising a hand, students hold a fist at their belly and put their thumb up when they're ready to contribute). Students can instead use six hand gestures to silently signal that they agree, disagree, have something to add, and more. All of these strategies give teachers an unobtrusive way to see what students are thinking.

No matter which tools you select, make time to do your own reflection to ensure that you're only assessing the content and not getting lost in the assessment fog. If a tool is too complicated, is not reliable or accessible, or takes up a disproportionate amount of time, it's OK to put it aside and try something different.

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7 Smart, Fast Ways to Do Formative Assessment

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Within these methods you'll find close to 40 tools and tricks for finding out what your students know while they're still learning.