Other Types of Rubrics

While DC Connect only supports the two-types of rubrics, there are others that can support learners or specific kinds of assessments.

In This Section

• • Checklist
  • Specifciations-Grading
    • Advantages and Disadvantages
    • How To Implement

Checklist

In some instances, rubrics may not be the ideal evaluation tool. Some assessments require a “did” or “did not” complete approach. In these cases, a checklist can not only be useful in supporting objective evaluation but can also provide students with the specific assessment elements or tasks required – very much like a rubric. A checklist is the simplest way to determine the presence or absence of any component of a given assessment. Checklist language may include:

• Satisfactory or unsatisfactory
• Complete or incomplete
• Yes or no
• Present or absent
• Acceptable or unacceptable

When creating the checklist, it is important to be crystal clear about the expectations as students should be able to identify exactly what it takes to be successful in their assessment. If unsure, this can be completed as an in-class activity where students review exemplars with the rubric and determine which meet the requirements. This is a great informal feedback process as well, to address any issues in the rubric.

Rubric adapted to checklist from “Infographic Rubric” by Cambrian College is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Checklists are best used in formative assessments to provide students with an overview of how they are progressing towards a goal, but can also be valuable in summative assessments, particularly when a set of skills is being demonstrated or inclusions (in a report, for example) are being considered. As with rubrics, checklists should be provided to, and discussed with, the students at the same time as the assessment instructions and should be reviewed and revised each time it is used. The grade can then be determined by adding the number of “correct” grades, making the marking and feedback process streamlined.

Specifications-Grading

Checklists can be a form of specifications-grading, which has been shown to have benefits to student learning. The main principles of specifications-grading are:

1. Explicitly stated learning objectives that are aligned to course assessments,
2. Well-designed assessments that use pass/fail specifications to ensure comprehension of content,
3. Tiered or bundled assessments to earn different grades,
4. and options for resubmitting work that does not initially meet learning objectives (Nilson 2015, Towsley and Schmid 2020, Howitz et al. 2021).

Advantages and Disadvantages to Specifications-Grading

How to Implement Specifications-Grading

When moving towards specifications-grading, using a checklist rubric and converting the “correct” pieces into a grade can be a great start. This type of rubric can be used for all assignments, just be sure the specifications are clear, and ask students for feedback on how to improve. If interested in shaping the entire course into specifications-based, the typical grading structure is completed using bundles. The level of work in each bundle would be representative of the learning outcomes and skill development in the course. Students could then choose which level they would like to achieve. The below table is just an example, and would be built with the assessments, course learning, and reasonable performance by students. Within each of these assessments, the rubrics would be pass/fail checklists as expressed above.

Specifications-grading allows flexibility if mistakes happen (note there is embedded flexibility in the grading to allow for missed classes/assignments), but also help students build ownership of their work and critical thinking skills as they plan for the grade they want to achieve.

Rating Scales

Rating scales combine the simplicity of a checklist with the more specific level of achievement of a rubric.  A rating scale indicates how well a student performed on a specific element of an assessment or task, based on expected outcomes, but lacks the granularity of performance descriptors.

Recommended use: self-assessment, diagnostic or formative assessments, and even peer feedback.

This evaluation tool is also set up in a grid, or matrix, like a rubric, with both criteria (performance area, skill, component) and performance levels. Performance levels in a rating scale may or may not have associated points, and may be more subjective in nature, such as: