Rubrics allow you to provide efficient, timely, and meaningful grades and feedback to learners. They can be tied to assignments, quizzes, and discussions, and give you the opportunity to provide a framework to learners on activity expectations.
Create a Rubric
Use the Rubrics tool to create, name, and customize your rubric to fit your assessment needs.
To create a new rubric
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From the Rubrics tool, click New Rubric.
Figure: The New Rubric button.
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Enter a Name for your rubric.
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Choose the appropriate rubric Type:
Figure: The Type drop-down menu with options for Analytic or Holistic rubrics.
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Type: Analytic provides the ability to add multiple criteria within a rubric.
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Type: Holistic provides a single criterion. You can also assess holistic rubrics using percent scores that are set for each rubric level.
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Choose the appropriate Scoring type:
Figure: The Scoring drop-down menu with options for Points, No Score, and Custom Points.
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Scoring: Points results in each rubric level having the same score for each criterion.
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Scoring: No Score indicates that no point values are set.
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Scoring: Custom Points provides the ability to set unique point values for each level in each criterion.
Note: For more information about Rubric types and Scoring types, see Create a Rubric - About Rubric types.
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Click New Criterion to enter the criterion name, enter a rubric Level, and enter the point level .
Figure: Criterion name, level, and point level settings.
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Do any of the following optional steps:
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If you want to add more rubric levels, click the Add new level before (+) button.
Figure: The + button to add additional rubric levels. The new level appears as a column beside the existing level(s).
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If you want to delete existing rubric levels, click the trash bin icon.
Figure: The trash bin icon removes the level.
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If you want to add more criteria, click + Add Criterion and enter the criterion name.
Figure: The + Add Criterion button appears below the existing criterion lines.
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If you want to delete existing criteria, click Delete Row.
- Add a description of each criterion Level, as well as Initial Feedback for that level that will be applied when assessing learner submissions.
Figure: Level Descriptions and Initial Feedbackfor a criteria.
Note: You can click Add Criteria Group to create a separate group of assessment criteria.
- Adjust the Overall Score parameters to determine the overall level and score that is mapped to achievement levels and assigned to learners based on their submission.
Figure: Overall Score enables you to set a level of achievement based on a submission's overall rubric score.
- Click to expand Options, and customize the following:
Figure: Rubric Options, including Rubric Visibility, Score Visibility, Description, and Advanced Availability.- Rubric Visibility
- Score Visibility
- Description
- Advanced Availability
- Click Close to finish creating your rubric.
Video: Create a rubric
Edit a rubric
Use the Context menu of the Rubrics tool to edit a rubric.
Note: Rubrics that have been used to assess learners' work are locked, and it is only possible to edit text fields. To edit items such as the number of criteria or the number of achievement levels that would affect the academic integrity of a rubric already in use, you must copy the rubric and edit the new version.
To edit a rubric
- Navigate to the rubric you want to edit.
- Click the More Options arrow beside the rubric you want to edit.
- Click Edit.
Figure: The More Options menu for a rubric provides options, including Edit and Copy.
Edit an assessed rubric
Normally, rubrics that have been used for evaluation are locked and can't be edited. However if you have the Edit Assessed Rubrics permission, you can correct spelling errors, clarify wording, and make other minor changes that shouldn't impact the academic integrity of the rubric.
Note: It is only possible to make changes to assessed rubrics that are created in the current course or are copied from another course. Shared rubrics remain locked.
To edit an assessed rubric
- From your course navbar, click Rubrics.
- On the Rubrics page, click the rubric you want to edit.
- On the Edit Rubric page, click Edit Text in the alert banner at the top of the page.
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In the Edit this assessed rubric? dialog box, click Edit Text and enter your edits. The red boxes in the following image indicate which fields you can edit:
Figure: The Edit Rubric page showing which text fields can be edited within an assessed rubric.
- Click Close. Your edits save automatically.
Note: You can't make structural changes (such as adding evaluation levels or criteria), edit points, or add outcome alignments to assessed rubrics.
When an instructor makes a change to a previously assessed rubric, it is updated with a blue highlight and the text Edited in the lower right corner. When the instructor saves and closes the rubric, the edit indications no longer appear.
Figure: The Edit Rubric window with changes highlighted and indicated with the word Edited.
Control the visibility of rubrics
You can control rubric visibility for students. This is useful for preventing students from using preview rubrics as answer keys for activities. For example, you can describe assessment expectations in assignment instructions, hiding the associated preview rubric. Once the assignment is graded, you release the graded rubric as part of the student's assessment details.
Rubric visibility is controlled in two ways:
- Administrators can set the default visibility of new rubrics at the org unit level.
- Teachers can set the visibility of individual rubrics. Creating or editing a rubric includes the following options: Rubric is always visible to learners, Rubric is hidden until feedback published, and Rubric is never visible to learners.
Note: If a teacher attempts to publish a partially completed rubric evaluation, the Unscored Rubric Criteria dialog appears to warn them that not all rubric criteria has been scored. By default, the Continue Grading option is selected and the teacher can tap ENTER to return to the rubric, or tap Publish Anyway to continue to publish the partial evaluation. This workflow ensures that there is a verification layer to reconsider their action and ensure that teachers are not mistakenly publishing incomplete evaluations.
To indicate rubric visibility to teachers, rubrics that are hidden until feedback is published or rubrics that are never visible display an indicator in the Rubrics section of the associated activity. Visible rubrics do not display an indicator.
Note the following:
- Feedback copied from hidden rubrics only displays for students; it is not visible to teachers as they have access to the rubric. The visibility status of a rubric can only be changed at the rubric level, not at the activity level. For example, you cannot change the visibility of a rubric from an assignment.
- Visibility is a property of a rubric and not an individual assessment. Rubric definitions and published feedback appear in the assessment tool where the rubric is used.
Note: Starting with the June 2020/20.20.6 release, this includes Assignments and Grades. Other tools, including Discussions, Brightspace Portfolio, and Outcomes Progress will be updated to use rubrics in future Brightspace updates.
- For individual and group discussions, a teacher assesses the rubric in the assess topic workflow. Upon saving the assessment, the rubric feedback is considered published.
Using Rubrics in mobile view
The evaluation view for the Assignments and Discussions tools uses a collapsible container component in the right side panel. Instructors can open or close these panels for Rubrics, Grades & Feedback, Outcomes, and Competencies.
To grade a rubric in mobile view
- Navigate to Assignments or Discussions.
- For the assignment or discussion you want to evaluate, click the Actions drop-down menu and then click View Submissions.
- In the Submissions tab, click the assignment or discussion you want to evaluate.
- As you evaluate, notice the triangle. Click the triangle for the panels for Rubrics, Grades & Feedback, Outcomes, and Competencies to open the evaluation container. Click the triangle again to close the container.
Figure: Click the triangle to open or close the evaluation container.
- Add feedback to your desired sections.
- Click Save Draft or Publish.
You have evaluated an assignment or discussion in mobile view.
Print or download a PDF of a rubric
Instructors can print or download a PDF of preview (unevaluated) and evaluated rubrics. Learners can also print or download a PDF of a rubric from the desktop browser implementation of Brightspace.
In all displays of a rubric, the Print button displays above the top-right corner of the rubric.
Printed rubrics include the logo from the organization that issued the rubric; specifically, the image displayed in the course navigation bar. The logo image provides clear organizational recognition for rubrics that were evaluated in courses in your organization and distinguishes rubrics within a learner's Portfolio if they have taken classes from multiple institutions. You can use the brand recognition of the logos to assess the merits for credit from other institutions.
Print a preview of a rubric
- From Course Admin, click Rubrics.
- Do one of the following:
- From the More Actions menu beside the Rubric Name, click Preview.
- Click a rubric to open the Edit Rubric page. From the Edit Rubric More Actions menu, click Preview.
- Click Print Rubric
- Select the printer or PDF driver you want to use and click Print.
Print an evaluated rubric from the Grades tool
- Navigate to Grades.
- Click the action menu to the right of any student name and select Preview Grades.
- Click View Graded Rubric.
- Click Print Rubric.
- Select the printer or PDF driver you want to use and click Print.
Print an evaluated rubric from Outcomes Progress
- Navigate to Class Progress.
- Select a learner from the Class List.
- Select the Grades option from the left navigation bar.
- Expand the Feedback section for a grade item.
- Select View Graded Rubric.
- Click Print Rubric.
- Select the printer or PDF driver you want to use and click Print.