Rubrics, checklists and marking guides are tools you can use for scoring subjective assessments. They allow you to perform standardized scoring according to specified criteria. You can also share the criteria with your students.
This makes grading simpler, more consistent, and more transparent.
 | TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Video Tutorials See DDCC video tutorials at the links below to learn how to create and grade with advanced grading options: |
How do I know which one to use?
- Checklists: Use a simple list to grade activities. Create a list of items that represent your grading criteria. Assign a point for each item. When grading student submissions, note what items are there or missing from the submission. Each checked item calculates the final grade.
Example: Was the student’s post interesting to read? Yes or no.
- Rubrics: Add levels of success to your grading criteria with a rubric. Presented as a table instructors select how successful a student was on each criterion. Each completed row calculates the final grade.
Example: Was the student’s post interesting to read? It missed, met, or exceeded expectations.
- Marking guides: Use a range of points to specify success levels for each criterion. Create feedback comments that you use often for quick selection during grading.
Example: Was the student’s post interesting to read? The higher the grade the more interesting it was to read.
Checklists
To use a checklist: Turn editing on > Open forum or Assignment > Edit > Edit settings > Grade
Consistently grade all students on an activity with the same list of criteria and the same point values for each criteria.
Checklists are composed of groups with “items”, which are the criteria for the grade. Select the text Click to edit group/item to enter groups/items and enter a description of the criteria to be graded (for example, Participation). Type the point value for each item added. The total of these points is the total grade for the activity. If you've already assigned a number of points to the assignment, make sure that the points you add to your checklist, add up to the same number of points.
- In the activity settings, expand the Grade options.
- From the Grading method menu select Checklist.
- Select Save and Display.
- You are prompted to add your checklist. Choose one of the following.
- Select Define new grading form from scratch. Use this one the first time you add a checklist to any of your courses.
- Select Create new grading form from a template. After you have created a checklist you can reuse it any time.
- Type a name for the Checklist.
- Select the items to edit them. Type the new information.
- Select the points for each item to edit it. Type the new value. Make sure your total points matches the number of points you've already given the assignment in the settings. Also, you'll need to add an item with zero points so that you can give zero points if a student didn't turn in an assignment.
- Select Add item to add more items to the checklist.
- Select Save checklist and make it ready.
The option to allow users to preview the checklist is selected by default. Leave this selected. This can help your organize their efforts to meet the requirements of an assignment. You can also use it later on to explain your evaluations.
By default, only site administrators and managers have permission to publish one of your forms as a site wide template for others to use. You can, however, reuse your own forms as many times as you like within a course or within other courses. If you don’t have permission to share an advanced grading method as a template, then you can instead share it by backing up the activity using it and giving the backup file to another teacher to restore and use.
Grade with a checklist
Assignments are gradable using a Checklist in the Grader and through Submitted assignments. Open forums can only be graded using a checklist in the Grader.
Rubrics
To use a rubric: Turn editing on > Open forum or Assignment > Edit > Edit settings > Grade
Rubrics spell out to students exactly what is expected of them. It also lists the criteria you can use to assess student work. You can add rubrics to assignment and Open forum activities.
- From the Open forum or Assignment activities expand Grade.
- From the Grade type menu select Manual.
- From the Grading method menu select Rubric.
- Select Save and Display.
- You are prompted to add your rubric. Choose one of the following.
- Select Define new grading form from scratch. Use this one the first time you add a rubric to any of your courses.
- Select Create new grading from from a template. After you have created a rubric you can reuse it any time.
- Type a name for the Rubric.
- Select the criterion and levels to make them active. Type the new information.
- Select Add criterion to add new rows.
- Select your rubric options. All are on by default.
- Select Save rubric and make it ready.
Give the rubric to your students early on. They might not know there is a rubric unless you tell them. This can help them organize their efforts to meet the requirements of an assignment. You can also use it later on to explain your evaluations. To help students view the rubric, see View rubrics for students.
Grade with a rubric
Rubrics are easy to use in the Grader and through Submitted assignments. Open forums can only be graded in the Grader.
- When assessing a student’s work, open the rubric.
- Select the level that best describes how the student performed on each criterion. This must be done for each criterion for the grade to be calculated.
Currently selected levels are highlighted in light green. If the rubric is re-edited later, the previously selected level is highlighted in light red.
Marking guides
To use a marking guide: Turn editing on > Open forum or Assignment > Edit > Edit settings > Grade
Grading guides inform students what is expected of them for the activity. It also gives markers the flexibility of grading within a range of points.
Example: If you have a criterion worth 15 points you give it a score between 0 and 15.
- From the activity expand Grade.
- From the Grade type menu select Manual.
- From the Grading method menu select Grading guide.
- Select Save and Display.
- You are prompted to add your grading guide. Choose one of the following.
- Select Define new grading form from scratch. Use this one the first time you add a grading guide to any of your courses.
- Select Create new grading from from a template. After you have created a grading guide you can reuse it any time.
- Type a name for the Grading guide.
- Select the criterion and descriptions to edit them. Type the new information.
- Select Add criterion to add new criteria.
- Select to add frequently used comments.
This feature allows you to create standard feedback options that are then available when you go to grade the activity. You can easily select the feedback that you would like to add and customize the text after adding it to the feedback area. This saves a lot of time! You may find yourself adding more frequently used comments as times goes on and periodically reordering how they display in the list. When you are creating the comment you might need more space to type. Moodle automatically scrolls the text up as multiple lines are added but it makes it hard to read and write longer feedback options. To make this easier click and drag the bottom right-hand corner of the box to enlarge the text input area.
- Select Save grading guide and make it ready.
Grade with a Marking guide
The Grading guide is easy to use with the Grader.
- View the submitted files or discussion inline and open the grading guide for grading.
- Enter feedback and points.
- Don’t forget to add frequently used comments by clicking in the appropriate feedback area and then selecting the corresponding icons for the one(s) you want to add.
- Close the pop-up and view another file or continue reading the discussion.
Don’t click the Save button until you are finished grading the activity for that student so you can re-open the grading guide and continue adding feedback and points.