A Brief Guide to Developing Assessment Rubrics

Prepared by: Cheryl Merzel, DrPH, MPH, Director, MPH Program May 2016

INTRODUCTION Assessment rubrics are a useful tool for evaluating the level of student achievement in specific learning outcomes. Sometimes called grading or learning outcome rubrics, they provide guidance to students regarding performance expectations as well as greater transparency and efficiency in grading. This guide discusses: how rubrics can enhance learning and assessment; best practices for developing and using assessment rubrics; and resources for developing assessment rubrics. This guide is the result of a small grant from the NYU Office of Academic Assessment (OAA) awarded to the CGPH in May 2015. The purpose of the project was to conduct background research relevant to developing an assessment rubric for the experiential learning components of the MPH curriculum. With the help of a student research assistant, the peerreviewed and gray literatures were searched to find relevant papers, reports, and examples of assessment rubrics. The review focused on literature related to higher education and professional graduate education, particularly in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, other health professions, and social work.

WHY RUBRICS? AN ESSENTIAL TOOL FOR LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT An assessment rubric is a matrix that arrays assignment components across performance dimensions and criteria. The subtitle of useful reference book on rubrics says it all: An Assessment Tool to Save Grading Time, Convey Effective Feedback, and Promote Student Learning.1 Assessment rubrics are useful tools for achieving efficiency, transparency, and fairness in grading as well as clarifying expectations to students. They can be used to provide timely, detailed feedback to students regarding level of performance and areas needing improvement.2 Rubrics identify grading criteria aligned with student performance expectations, consistent with curricular goals and course learning objectives.3 Rubrics can save time in grading because they provide a systematic way of examining each student’s work compared to defined criteria, and they can be used as a scoring sheet to give students detailed 1

comments on their work. Rubrics also are very useful to help achieve greater reliability when grading is done by multiple assessors, e.g., for a thesis or portfolio.4 The following brief video provides a helpful introduction to rubrics and how to create them: http://www.jove.com/video/2048/using-learning-outcome-measures-to-assess-doctoralnursing-education .5

PRINCIPLES FOR DEVELOPING ASSESSMENT RUBRICS It’s helpful to think of assessment rubrics as a tool for learning, not of learning. Assessment rubrics are most valuable and valid when aligned with the curriculum, i.e., they parallel course learning objectives, content, and teaching methods. 6 Developing a rubric is an iterative process. The finished product should go beyond a simple checklist and incorporate multiple dimensions of performance in order to enrich the learning experience for students. Many educational scholars emphasize that rubrics should be used for both formative and summative assessments of student performance.7-9 Formative assessment provides students with feedback they need to improve their future performance while summative assessment gives them a concrete measure of how their performance rates according to defined expectations. Both types of feedback are important and support the self-regulated learning expected of adults and professionals.8 It’s helpful to distinguish conceptually between a grading rubric, which is used to determine the grade for a particular assignment, and a learning outcomes rubric, which is used to assess whether students learned all key aspects of a concept or skill.5 Rubrics help spell out the specific competencies and related learning outcomes students are expected to develop in a course or learning experience. The Association of Schools and Programs in Public Health (ASPPH), offers a useful framework for identifying types of competencies, based on Bloom’s Taxonomy: http://www.aspph.org/app/uploads/2014/02/Competency-basedEd_2013-1205_ASPPH.ppt.pdf. Competencies may incorporate domains related to knowledge (e.g., public health principles), skills (e.g., applying appropriate statistics), or attitudes (e.g., professional 2

values). When developing competencies, it’s best to define them as concretely as possible and to identify the specific learning outcomes that operationalize the general construct. 10 For example, under the global construct “communication skills,” specific learning outcomes may include “conveys public health information in language accessible to a wide audience.”

BEST PRACTICES FOR DEVELOPING & USING ASSESSMENT RUBRICS Assessment rubrics comprise measurable statements of what students are expected to know, do, and/or value upon completion of a specific assignment, course, or program. 5 Thus, rubrics are course/assignment-specific and there is no one size fits all model; each rubric is unique to the purpose of the assignment. While constructing a rubric can be time-consuming, the work is mainly up-front and saves time later when doing the actual grading. In their book, Introduction to Rubrics, Stevens and Levy identify four stages in constructing a rubric.1 These should be thought of as iterative and can be used to construct an initial rubric or revise an existing one. This exercise also will help you fine tune the focus of an assignment. 1. Reflecting  Think about what you want from the students, the purpose of the assignment, what you expect from the students, past experiences with the assignment and student performance. 2. Listing  Specify the details of the assignment and its learning objectives. 3. Grouping and labeling  Group together similar expectations from #1 and #2 above. These groupings will form the basis of the rubric dimensions. 4. Application  Apply the dimensions and descriptions from #3 to the final rubric. The following are a few general guidelines to use:

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a) The rubric should be a mirror image of the assignment. Use it to double check the clarity of assignment instructions. b) Rows reflect the specific skills/competency dimensions and columns reflect the rating scale. c) Most rubrics use a 3 to 5 point rating scale, e.g.: Exemplary/competent/needs work d) To be most useful, the criteria for performance are specified within each cell. e) The rating scale shows how points are allocated for the assignment. f) Use the rubric to add points rather than deduct. This makes grading easier. g) When grading, highlight or circle the specific criteria applicable to your rating. You can use this as a way to provide detailed feedback to students on how to improve their work, without writing comments. It’s also helpful documentation to explain your grade to a student. h) Add a column for comments to give more detailed feedback to each student. The short video noted above is a helpful reference for understanding the basics of constructing a rubric: http://www.jove.com/video/2048/using-learning-outcome-measures-toassess-doctoral-nursing-education .5

AN EXAMPLE OF AN ASSESSMENT RUBRIC The following is the grading rubric that I developed for the poster presentation assignment for the MPH internship course. I sought student feedback before finalizing it. The process helped clarify what the course instructors consider to be the most important learning outcomes and expectations of student work, which are taken into account in the grading. I tried writing the criteria in a way that would be constructive and instructive to the students. The students get the rubric in the beginning of the semester to guide them in their preparation of the poster.

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Rubric for Assessing Posters Adapted from Huba, M.E., & Freed, J.E. (2000). Learner-centered assessment on college campuses: Shifting the focus from teaching to learning (pp. 156-157). Allyn & Bacon: Needham Heights, MA; Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence, Carnegie Mellon University

#1-4 each worth 10 points (40 points total): A = 10, A- = 9, B+ = 8.8, B = 8.5, B- or less = 8 or less. #5 worth 60 points: A = 60, A- = 55.2, B+ = 52.8, B= 51, B- or less = 48 or less. Components

High level of competency (A)

Very good level (B+)

Acceptable level (B)

Below level expected (