Video 20.1: Making Rubrics / Marking Guides Work for You (https://oer.aupress.ca/oer-202504/20.1)
Making Rubrics / Marking Guides Work for You
When you receive an assignment, you will have assignment instructions, and you may also have a rubric or marking guide that indicates more specifically how your instructor will mark your work. See how these can be powerful learning tools for you.
In this video, you’ll learn how to use the assignment instructions and rubric / marking guide to their maximum potential to support your learning.
When you first begin working on your assignment, look at the assignment instructions or rubric / marking guide. You want to avoid making the unfortunate mistake of putting a lot of time and effort into an assignment only to miss an important element of the assignment requirements.
Analyze the instructions and rubric / marking guide carefully. What is your instructor looking for? Which sections are emphasized and receive more marks? What elements are less emphasized and worth fewer marks? Use this information to determine how you want to focus your efforts.
Not sure what a term in the instructions or rubric / guide means? Now is a great time to ask!
Now imagine that you’ve finished writing the first draft of your assignment. How do the assignment instructions and rubric/guide help now? As it turns out, there are some powerful things you can do at this stage in your work.
One secret to learner success is learning to accurately understand how your work meets the expectations of your course. One way that you can do this is to put yourself into the place of your instructor and try to grade your own assignment according to the assignment instructions and rubric/guide.
Does your assignment meet expectations? If it doesn’t quite yet, you still have time to consider what changes you want to make.
After you receive the marked assignment from your instructor, compare your self-evaluation with how your instructor graded your work. Where did you notice differences?
As you continue to use this process, you will work toward using assignment instructions and a rubric/guide to self-evaluate accurately—so that your self-evaluation closely matches your instructor’s evaluation of your work.
So as you can see, assignment instructions and a rubric/guide can be powerful tools for learning. By using them effectively, you will be able to produce work that accurately meets the expectations of your course. Make the rubrics work for you!