Using rubrics in your courses

In this article, you'll learn how to add rubrics to courses, how to link them with various types of coursework, and how to use them to grade that work.

Adding a rubric to the course

You can create a new rubric just for your course or duplicate one of your school's global rubrics.

1. Go to the course Settings view and click the Rubrics tab.
2. Click Add a rubric.
3. Choose whether to add a new rubric or duplicate an existing one.
   • If you're adding a new rubric, follow the instructions in this article.
4. You can duplicate global rubrics or a rubric you've already added to this course. Check the radio buttons next to the rubric you'd like to duplicate.
5. If need be, change the rubric's name.
6. When you're done, click Save.

Now that you've added this rubric, you can start adding it to assignments and coursework; you can also modify it and its criteria, if necessary.

Adding rubrics to assignments

You can add rubrics to any assignment (except test- and attendance-type assignments). Peer review assignments let you add rubrics only after you enable certain grading options. These will all be covered, below.

To add a rubric to an assignment:

• When creating the assignment in the course Assignments view, you can select a global or course rubric for the following assignment types: grade-only, file, discussion, and essay.
• You can add a rubric to an existing assignment (of one of the above types) on the assignment's page. Click edit next to Info and select a rubric in the dialog box.

You can add a rubric to discussion assignments; you can also use a rubric to grade individual discussion comments/replies:

• The discussion must be a graded discussion.
• In the discussion settings, click Grade Comments or Grade Replies. You can select a rubric below the points field.

You can use rubrics in peer review assignments:

• When you edit the peer review assignment's info, you can select peer grading and other options.
• To allow students to use the rubric to grade one another's submissions, check Peer Grading and select a rubric for Submissions. If you do not enable peer grading, only you can use the rubric to grade student submissions.
• Select a rubric for Reviews so you can use it to grade student reviews.

Grading an assignment with a rubric

After you've added a rubric to an assignment, you can grade student work using the rubric in any place where you can enter regular grades:

• On the main assignment page.
• On the individual student assignment view.
• On the student course summary Assignments view.
• If you're using a rubric for a discussion, you'll see it in the Enter Grades interface for discussion comments/replies.
• If you're using a rubric for a peer-review assignment, you can use it to grade the student's submission (and if you've enabled peer grading, your students can use it, too).

To use the rubric:

1. In any place where you can enter assignment grades, click Enter grades.
2. In regular assignments, click to open the rubric scoring dialog.
   • In peer review assignments and graded discussions, click Enter grades.
3. The rubric dialog divides the grade/score you've assigned for the coursework among the different criterion levels. To score the student's work, you can either:
   • Click the criterion level with the appropriate score/evaluation. This autofills the scoring field.
   • Enter a number in the scoring field. This highlights the corresponding criterion level.
4. Enter a comment under each criterion score (optional).
5. When you're done, click Save Rubric Scores.

After you've used the rubric:

• The student's assignment grade will reflect the rubric score as appropriate (discussion and peer review scores will be factored into the grade calculation).
• You can view/edit the student's rubric by clicking .
• You will no longer be able to edit the rubric or the criteria that you used to score the student's work. You will only be able to duplicate the rubric and edit the new version.

What will the student see?

Once the rubric score/assignment grade is saved, the student can see her evaluation on the assignment, discussion, or submission page.