Get ready with rubrics | Staff guide

Rubrics allow you to mark work and provide feedback to students in a consistent way. They show students what is expected of the task and match the course's learning objectives. They also show students what good work looks like and how they can improve.  

They make giving feedback faster and clearer. You can also create non-scoring rubrics, for formative and feedback only assignments. 

What is a rubric?

There are two main types: 

  • Holistic rubric: Looks at the whole piece of work. Uses one scale to judge overall quality of the work (for example a research essay, with five levels of scoring). 

  • Analytical Rubric: Breaks marking into parts, like evidence, content, and structure. Each part has its own score. 

(Example rubric from the Psychology Programme Team, LJMU)

Other helpful features

  • Rubrics make marking faster and feedback quicker. 
  • You can copy rubrics to new courses. 
  • Use ‘Save Comment’ to reuse feedback comments. 

What makes a good rubric

The EdTech team have devised a phrase to help you remember components of a good rubric. Remember CLEAR: 

  • Criteria: Make sure your criteria are clear and easy to understand. Use descriptive language. 
  • Level descriptors: Explain what each scoring level means, so students know how to improve. 
  • Expectation: Show the rubric before students start the task. 
  • Aligned: Link the rubric to your module learning outcomes. 
  • Review: Check and update your rubric often to ensure there is alignment. 

How to make a rubric

Canvas have guides to help you. Find them on the Canvas Community Help Pages. 

Important: 

  • You cannot edit a rubric after it is used in more than one assignment. 
  • If you delete a rubric, old assignments keep a copy, but you cannot use it again for new assignments. 

Do rubrics work? 

Research says rubrics help students do better and feel more motivated. 

  • Brookhart and Chen (2014) found rubrics improve motivation. 
  • Reddy and Andrade (2009) say rubrics only help if students learn how to use them. 

Need help? 

Canvas support is open 24/7. Log in and click Help in Canvas to chat or call. 

References 

  • Andrade, H., Reddy, Y.M. (2009). A Review of Rubric Use in Higher Education. DOI: 10.1080/02602930902862859 
  • Brookhart, S.M., Chen, F. (2014). The Quality and Effectiveness of Descriptive Rubrics. DOI: 10.1080/00131911.2014.929565