Step 1: Define the Purpose of the Learning Task
The first step in creating any rubric is to clarify the purpose of the assignment and identify what task (product, performance, or assignment) students should learn. Your rubric is based on the purpose of the learning task that you will be assessing so it's important that the purpose be well defined at the beginning.
How do you define your purpose? Think about it.
Defining your purpose for the learning task and the rubric may seem obvious, but it requires some serious thought. These questions may help you think about and better define your purpose and goals:
- Will you use the rubric to assign a grade?
- Will you use the rubric to give feedback so students can improve their performance?
- Is the rubric for a multi-dimensional project or for a simple, straight-forward assignment?
- What are the learning outcomes?
- How will students demonstrate they've learned these outcomes?
I've thought about the purpose, now what? Write it down. Although writing down the purpose of the rubric and task it will assess sounds very simple, it's surprising difficult. It's important in any type of assessment that you be able to clearly articulate what you are trying to accomplish. Don't skip this step-starting with a well-defined purpose will make the next four steps go more smoothly.
Course Project
Step 1: Define the Purpose of the Assessment.
The purpose of our course project is to assess student cooking skills mid-way through a cooking course. We want to give students feedback on cooking skills such as: following a recipe and making any necessary adjustments; preparing a variety of ingredients; and following instructions and making adjustments so the food is cooked evenly throughout. Baking an apple pie requires each of these skills and is the task chosen for this assessment.
After you've answered these questions and written a clear statement of your purpose, it will be easier to create your rubric. Your next step is to choose the type of rubric to create. >>>