Effective assessment and feedback methods have increasingly become the focus in higher education lately to enhance student learning and engagement (HEA, 2016). According to the latest Irish Survey of Student Engagement (HEA, 2016), only 45% of students report that staff provide prompt and detailed feedback on completed tests and assignments (either “quite a bit” or “very much”), with 22% reporting that they get “very little” feedback.
Rubrics are often cited as a tool that can assist lecturers not only with outlining assessment expectations and grading, but also in providing formative and summative feedback to students. Reliability, transparency and consistency are frequently mentioned as the main benefits of using rubrics, especially with larger class sizes (Stevens and Levi, 2013). In particular, analytical (grid-type), topic- specific rubrics have been found to deepen student understanding engagement and improved learning (Jonsson and Svigby, 2007). In recent years, the main Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) such as Blackboard, Moodle and Sakai have incorporated rubric tools to build, grade and provide feedback to students online for a variety of online assessments, such as essays, blogs, wikis, discussions and short test questions.
This paper describes the use of the Blackboard rubric tool to assess two group concept map assessments for 1st year Nursing students. The development of a percentage-based analytical rubric is outlined, including the set up and use for grading and feedback. A mixed-methods survey (n = 120) was carried out to analyse student perceptions of the assessment and rubric (Moni and Moni, 2008). Some preliminary survey data on student opinions of the online rubric are presented, including its perceived ease of use and effectiveness as an assessment and feedback tool. A staff evaluation of the use of the online rubric as a grading tool is also included. Some considerations and recommendations for using for using online rubric tools will also be discussed.
Higher Education Authority (2016), Report of the Working Group on Student Engagement in Irish Higher Education, Dublin. (Accessed 12/04/2017)
Higher Education Authority (2016) The Irish Survey of Student Engagement (ISSE) 2016, Dublin. (Accessed 12/04/2017)
Stevens, D.D. and Levi, A.J., (2013) Introduction to rubrics: An assessment tool to save grading time, convey effective feedback, and promote student learning. Virginia, USA: Stylus Publishing, LLC.
Jonsson, A. and Svingby, G., (2007) ‘The use of scoring rubrics: Reliability, validity and educational consequences’ Educational Research Review, Vol. 2 (2), pp. 130 -144.
Moni, R.W. and Moni K.B., (2008) ‘Student perceptions and use of an assessment rubric for a group concept map in physiology’ Advances in Physiology Education, Vol. 32, pp. 47-54.
