Emerson College Library: Office of Academic Assessment: Rubric Resources

Why use rubrics?

As the Berkeley Center for Teaching and Learning points out:

Rubrics aren't just for summative evaluation. They can be used as a teaching tool as well. When used by students as part of a formative assessment, they can help students understand both the holistic nature and/or specific analytics of learning expected, the level of learning expected, and then make decisions about their current level of learning to inform revision and improvement (Reddy & Andrade, 2010)."

Rubrics help instructors:

Provide students with feedback that is clear, directed and focused on ways to improve learning.
Demystify assignment expectations so students can focus on the work instead of guessing "what the teacher wants."
Adapt your approach to teaching aspects of a course based on thematic gaps in student learning that are easily identified by reviewing rubrics across a class.
Develop consistency in how you evaluate student learning across students and throughout a class.
Reduce time spent on grading; Increase time spent on teaching.

Rubrics help students:

Focus their efforts on completing assignments in line with clearly set expectations.
Self and Peer-reflect on their learning, making informed changes to achieve the desired learning level.

Source: https://teaching.berkeley.edu/resources/improve/evaluate-course-level-learning/rubrics

AAC&U Value Rubrics

ACRL Value Rubrics
VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) is a campus-based assessment approach developed and led by AAC&U. VALUE rubrics provide needed tools to assess students’ own authentic work, produced across students’ diverse learning pathways, fields of study and institutions, to determine whether and how well students are meeting graduation level achievement in learning outcomes that both employers and faculty consider essential. Teams of faculty and other educational professionals from institutions across the country—two- and four-year, private and public, research and liberal arts, large and small—developed rubrics for sixteen Essential Learning Outcomes that all students need for success in work, citizenship, and life. The VALUE rubrics are being used to help institutions demonstrate, share, and assess student accomplishment of progressively more advanced and integrative learning.
ACRL Value Rubrics FAQ
ACRL has compiled an FAQ of frequently asked questions regarding the VALUE rubrics.

Sample rubrics from other institutions

Sample rubrics linked below are available online through a variety of institutions' academic assessment and center for teaching & learning websites.

Developing Equitable Rubrics

Crews, Kimberly, Rebecca D. Graham, Whitney Harris, and Wynn Yarbrough. "Developing Culturally Relevant Rubrics to Assess General Education Learning Outcomes."
Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice 20, no. 12 (2020): 95-105.

Abstract: Life skills, including oral and written communication, are fostered by institutions of higher education and valued by employers. This university used the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC& U) VALUE rubrics to develop assessment tools that evaluate student work in the General Education (GE) program. Using rubric calibration "best practices, "faculty teams updated program rubrics in alignment with GE outcomes that serve the University's multicultural student population. The public speaking rubric exemplifies this inclusive process, which stands as a model for faculty engagement while developing assessment tools that capture institutional uniqueness, facilitate instructional improvement, and yield reporting data for stakeholders.

Anti-Racist Classroom Rubric

This rubric for creating an anti-racist classroom environment was created by Cole M. James for the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, CA.

Link: https://otis.libguides.com/tlc/anti_racist_rubric

Canvas Rubric Guide

Canves help documentation for creating rubrics in your courses