Use rubrics

Overview

Use rubrics to grade course assignments and discussions by measuring student performance against set criteria.

You can add two types of criteria to a rubric:

Custom criteria added and updated manually
Criteria aligned to standardized learning objectives, such as Common Core or state standards

Add rubrics to materials

Rubrics can only be added to the following course materials:

Assessments (subjective questions only)
Assignments
Discussions
Tests and quizzes (short answer or essay questions only)

You cannot use rubrics to grade an entire test, quiz, or assessment. They can only be used to evaluate short answer or essay questions.

Only one rubric can be added to a course material or item. It is not possible to add multiple rubrics to one item.

Add a rubric to an assignment or discussion

Navigate to a course.
Select Add Materials and choose Add Discussion or Add Assignment.
Alternatively, click the gear icon for the discussion or assignment and select Edit.
From Scale/Rubric, choose an existing rubric or Create New.
Optionally, follow the steps to create a new rubric.

Add a rubric to a test or quiz

Navigate to a course.
Select Add Materials and choose Add Test/Quiz. Enter the details and click Create.
Alternatively, select the title of a previously created test or quiz.
From Questions, click Add Question and choose Short-Answer/Essay Question.
From Rubric, choose an existing rubric or Create New.
Optionally, follow the steps to create a new rubric.

Add a rubric to an assessment

Navigate to a course.
Select Add Materials and choose Add Assessment. Enter the details and click Create.
Alternatively, select the title of a previously created assessment.
From Questions, choose Short-Answer/Essay.
From Align Rubric, choose an existing rubric or Create New.
Optionally, follow the steps to create a new rubric.

Display rubrics to students

When you add a rubric to a graded item, the option Show to students is displayed during the editing or creation process. Select this option so members of the course can review the rubric in the assignment or discussion profile.

The rubric will be included with the assignment description for students.

Create a rubric

Create a rubric in Grade Setup or directly from an assignment, assessment, graded discussion, test, or quiz. Rubrics created in assignments or discussions can be saved for reuse in Grade Setup. You can also create rubrics in Resources and copy them to any course you manage.

Add a rubric from Grade Setup

Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.
From Scales-Rubrics, select Add and choose Rubric.
Follow the steps to create a rubric.

Add a rubric to Resources

Navigate to Resources.
Select Add Resources and choose Add Rubric.
Follow the steps to create a rubric.

Create a rubric

Enter a Rubric Title.
Add criteria.
- Enter a title and description for the learning objective.
- Click +Criteria to add additional rows of custom criteria.
- Add standards-aligned criteria:
  1. Click Align Learning Objective.
  2. Select the learning objective, and then click Add Learning Objective to add it as a criterion.
Optionally, customize the rubric.
- Add additional columns to the scale by hovering over a cell and clicking the + icon that appears.
- Change the points and descriptions for individual grading scale levels by clicking their respective fields and updating them.
- Remove a row or column by hovering over the cell and clicking the x icon that appears.
- Reorder the rows by clicking the bars and dragging the row to the appropriate location.
Optionally, click Apply Grading Scale to replace the rubric’s grading scale with a custom scale from your course. Then, select a point-based scale. This action cannot be undone.
Click Create.

Manage rubrics

Edit a rubric

Any changes made to an existing rubric will apply to all materials in the course that use that rubric.

To change a rubric for a specific item, create a new rubric instead of adjusting an existing one.
Changes made to a rubric do not affect copies of the rubric you have added to other courses.

Click the rubric’s name in Grade Setup or from the Edit option after clicking the gear icon.

Add additional columns to the scale by hovering over a cell and clicking the + icon that appears.
Change the points and descriptions for individual grading scale levels by clicking their respective fields and updating them.
Remove a row or column by hovering over the cell and clicking the x icon that appears.
Reorder the rows by clicking the bars and dragging the row to the appropriate location.

Copy a rubric

Copy a rubric to another course for which you’re an administrator.

Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.
From Scales/Rubrics, select Rubrics to display a list of all rubrics in your course.
Click the gear icon and choose Copy to Course.
Select the courses to which you want to copy your rubric.
Click Add.

Copy all rubrics

Add all rubrics to another course for which you’re an administrator:

Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.
Click Copy Settings.
From Select Settings to Copy, select Rubrics.
Choose the courses to which you want to copy your rubrics.
Click Copy.

Delete a rubric

You cannot delete rubrics associated with graded items. The number of associated graded items will be displayed with the rubric name. Remove the rubric from all graded items to proceed.

Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.
From Scales/Rubrics, select Rubrics to display a list of all rubrics in your course.
Click the gear icon and choose Delete.
Click Delete. You cannot retrieve rubrics after deleting them from a course. Deleting a rubric is a permanent action.

Save a rubric to Resources

Navigate to a course and select Grade Setup.
From Scales/Rubrics, select Rubrics to display a list of all rubrics in your course.
Click the gear icon and choose Save to Resources.
Select the Collection and the Folder in your Resources to which you want to add the rubric.
Click Save Copy.

Change the overall score of a rubric-graded assignment

You can change the overall score of the assignment in the rubric without changing any of the scores for the individual criteria. For example, you may need to lower the grade for a late submission but don’t want student mastery reporting to inaccurately reflect a lack of understanding of a criterion in the rubric.

To change the overall score in the rubric, click the Total Pts cell, and enter the new score. Optionally, select clear override to revert the score to the total of the individual criterion scores.