This week, we continue learning about post discussions and assignments including rubrics as an important part of the evaluation process. Rubrics are beneficial for the learner, because they clarify the expectations about their performance, and for the instructor, because the evaluation is more objective and aligned with the learning goals.
Rubrics will be included in the mini course of Small Group Instruction. You can access the Instructional Design Document (IDD) here.
I included the rubrics in the description of the activity, in addition to the rubric feature included in the Canvas LMS. Follow the instructions to access the minicourse:
- Canvas: Log in here first!
- Email: pilargmunoz@hotmail.com
- Password: IDT400xstudent
- User name: GoshornIDT400xstudent
- Choose Small Group instruction course.
- For the post discussion rubric:
- In the menu on the left, choose Discussions. Click on the “Implementation in your classroom” or “Interview with an experienced teacher”.
- At the top right, click on the Options button (three vertical dots) and choose “Show Rubric”.
- For the assignment rubric:
- Inside the course, choose Assignments from the menu on the left.
- Choose the “Create your own strategy cards” assignment.
- Scroll down to see the rubric.
I have decided to use Analytic rubrics, being this type of rubrics the most popular.
For the post discussions, I created an Analytic rubric similar to one from the University of Hawaii with specific criteria for online discussions. I decided to apply this rubric to all the post discussions of the mini-course to promote consistency. I am also combining it with the Checklist rubric, since in the post discussions, the students are required to comment on at least 2 peers’ posts. The total score will be 2 points, obtaining the average of the 2 criteria.
| Excellent (2 points) | Acceptable to Good (1 point) | Unacceptable (0 points) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quantity of posts | Student responded to the original assignment and exceeded the required minimum number of responses to other students’ work (more than 2 responses). | Student responded to the original assignment and made the required minimum number of responses to other students’ work (2 responses). | Student did not respond to the original assignment, and/or did not make the minimum number of responses to others’ posts (less than 2 responses). |
| Quality of content | Student gave careful thought to the assignment. Student demonstrated and applied in-depth, accurate knowledge of the material. Student demonstrated understanding of other students’ posts and made relevant, useful comments. Student offered ideas, perspectives, questions or resources that promoted a deeper understanding of the topic. Student substantiated comments by explaining the reasoning or evidence behind them. Student sometimes cited sources. Student posed thoughtful questions that moved the conversation forward. | Student gave some thought to the assignment. Student demonstrated and applied accurate knowledge of the material. Student demonstrated understanding of other students’ posts and made relevant, generally useful comments. Student sometimes substantiate comments by explaining the reasoning or evidence behind them. | Student skimmed the surface of the assignment. Student demonstrated limited or inaccurate understanding of, or ability to apply, the material. Student made limited contributions to the substance of the discussion. Student limited posts to simply agreeing with others, offering unsubstantiated personal opinions, and/or social chatter. |
For the assignment, I created a different Analytic rubric with specific requirements for the assignment. The total score will be 3 points, obtaining the average of the 3 criteria. I included the following criteria:
- Content: For the content, the learner will need to apply the Explicit strategies technique knowledge and apply it to the creation of 4 cards.
- Explanation: The learner will need to connect the materials created to the needs of their own classroom.
- Mechanics (Grammar and Spelling): Since the target audience are educators, the grammar and spelling will be evaluated to hold the educators accountable in their assignments.
| Above Average (3) | Sufficient (2) | Developing (1) | Needs improvement (0) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Content | Explicit strategy technique’s mastery is demonstrated through the end result project | Explicit strategy technique’s understanding is demonstrated through the end result project. | Basic understanding of the explicit strategy technique is met through the end result project. | End result project demonstrates lack of understanding of the Explicit strategy technique. |
| Explanation | Clearly, concisely, and thoroughly explains and analyzes the information presented. | Clearly explains and analyzes most of the information presented. | Attempts to explain and analyze the information, but the explanation is unclear or inaccurate. | Contains little to no explanation or analysis of the information presented. |
| Mechanics (Spelling and Grammar) | Minimal to no distracting errors in grammar and spelling. | The readability of the work is only slightly interrupted by spelling and/or grammatical errors. | Grammatical and/or spelling errors distract from the work. | The readability of the work is seriously hampered by spelling and/or grammatical errors. |
Reflection
The creation of rubrics in Canvas is really easy, since this feature is available when you are designing a course in this LMS. I already had some rubrics from last week without knowing that this would be the topic in this week 6, so I had to revisit them and update them with all the knowledge gained.
However, I decided to keep the total points and adjust the rubrics to have consistency with the Knowledge check and the rest of the assignments and online posts.
The rubrics support the evaluation of the learning goals and the students’ performance. The data is collected in addition to the students’ satisfaction and feedback about their experience using the rubrics through the final survey following the Kirkpatrick Level 1 instructions.