Rubrics

A rubric is a set of criteria that is used to assess a particular student assignment or exam, and ideally should be a reflection of the specific learning goals that have been determined and communicated to the students for the assignment or exam.  One of the most difficult things to do in teaching, however, is to determine learning goals because to do so, we must address a variety of issues “up front.” For example:  What exactly do we want students to learn and describe? What is reasonable to expect from students at this point in the course? What is important for the students to do to demonstrate their understanding of the assignment: apply factual data or describe relationships between different aspects of the subject?  

Designing a rubric requires that we determine what is most important and meaningful for the assignment.  Communicating it to the students beforehand informs them of the learning goals and helps them focus on what is important in the assignment. Having a pre-determined rubric to guide the evaluation of student work also informs and improves the grading process. The good news for law faculty is that rubrics that help with the development of both course and individual assignment learning goals are readily accessible.