3.6 Rubrics

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A rubric is an assessment scoring tool that articulates the expectations for an assignment by listing the criteria and describing levels of quality (Andrade, 2000; Arter & Chappuis, 2007; Stiggins, 2001).  A rubric usually has three essential components:

    1. Evaluation criteria provide indicators to consider when determining the quality of student work.
    2. Quality descriptors provide detailed explanations of proficiency for a particular level of achievement for a criterion.
    3. Scoring scales indicate the level of proficiency students will attain for a criterion, from poor to excellent.


Rubrics can be used to assess almost any type of student work. They can be used to standardize instructor and TA marking or for students to conduct self- and peer review. Canvas rubrics Links to an external site. can be used with assignments, quizzes and discussions and can be accessed when using the SpeedGrader Links to an external site.. Since online courses often contain more formal feedback than in-person courses, rubrics can be useful tools for managing the workload associated with providing regular feedback.

Rubrics can function as (Reddy & Andrade, 2010):

  • Evaluation tools:

    • Providing dependable benchmarks. A rubric gives multiple evaluators (i.e. instructors, co-instructors, TAs, students, student peers) a shared tool to use. This allows more consistency across grading for student work. It may facilitate the change in evaluation process from subjective observations to more objective evaluations.

    • Providing performance criteria. A rubric provides detailed descriptions for each level of performance against the criteria. Evaluators can save time in composing general feedback instead of writing the same comments over and over again, which helps reduce the marking burden.

  • Teaching tools:

    • Providing learning guidance. A rubric clearly specifies what constitutes  beginner level and exemplary level performance. This allows students to measure their own work against the criteria and guides students in developing their skills.

    • Providing formative feedback. A rubric indicates how students can move from one level of performance to another so students have a sense of their strengths and areas for improvement. This may help students make decisions about their current work to inform revision and improvement.

    • Promoting higher achievement. A rubric helps students identify critical focus in an assignment, reduce uncertainty and do more meaningful work. This may help students focus their effort and produce work of higher quality and achieve deeper learning.

    • Increasing interaction & participation. When self- and peer assessments are implemented, students are required to interact with each. This may contribute to increases in interaction and participation in the course.

    • Developing higher-order thinking skills. The use of rubrics for self- and peer assessments requires students to not only reflect on their own work but also assess and critique their peers’ performance. This may help students develop higher-order thinking skills.

You can access sample rubrics through the links below:

If you plan to develop your own rubric or would like to access more rubric examples, the CTLT has designed a Download supplementary resources of rubrics

[pdf] you may find helpful.