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  1. Teaching

Mark an Assignment in Moodle Using a Rubric

Overview

You can design and use rubrics to mark assignments and Workshop activities in Moodle. (The use of rubrics with other gradable items such as glossaries and database activities may be possible in the future.)

This page tells you how to set up a Moodle assignment to be graded with a rubric, how to create a rubric or edit an existing one, and how to grade the assignment using the rubric. A separate page provides instructions on creating a rubric in the course of building a Workshop activity.

You cannot mark assignments offline if you are using a rubric.

 

When to use

Refer to this page when you want to introduce rubric marking into your Moodle course.

A rubric is a set of marking criteria, for each of which several descriptive levels are defined and assigned points. It is presented as a table, with the criteria defined in rows and the levels and associated points defined in columns.

Both marking guides and rubrics are forms of standards based assessment.

Benefits

Marking with a rubric allows you to address several aspects of a student's assignment, assess them separately and let Moodle calculate the aggregated grade. Rubric marking makes the rationale behind your scores clear to students and to other markers of the same assignment.

Challenges

Rubrics can be quite time-consuming to set up. A marking guide is a simpler form of rubric, which you can also create within Moodle.

Guide

Step by step instructions

  • Set up an assignment to be marked using a rubric
  • Define a rubric from scratch
  • Create a new rubric from an existing one
  • Tell students how to view the rubric
  • Edit a used rubric
  • Mark an assignment using a rubric

Set up an assignment to be marked using a rubric

  1. On the course home page, click Turn editing on Turn editing on icon, then click the assignment's Update icon .
  2. On the Updating: Assignment page, in the Grade section, at Grading method, select Rubric.

    Screenshot of step 2
     
  3. Click Save and display.

    Screenshot of step 3
     
  4. On the Advanced grading page, choose whether you will: Screenshot of step 4
    • create a new rubric from scratch (click Define new grading form from scratch; the Define rubric page will display) or
    • begin with an existing template (click Create new grading form from a template; the Grading forms search page will display).

Define a rubric from scratch

  1. On the Define rubric page (open the assignment, then in the Settings block click Advanced grading, then Define rubric).

    Screenshot of step 1
     
  2. Give the rubric a meaningful Name. (The name will not be displayed to students.)

    Screenshot of step 2
     
  3. Add a Description, e.g. what the rubric should be used for. (The description can be selected to either display or not display to students in the Rubric options below.)

    Screenshot of step 3
     
  4. Click Add level in the far right-hand column to add columns to the rubric table; click Add criterion below the table to add rows.

    Default rubrics screen with point values set to 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1
     
  5. Click the table cells (or tab through them) to open them to define the criteria and levels.A rubric with criterion and levels set up to 0 and 0.25 points
    • You can specify the weight of a criterion using the points you assign to its levels.
      For example, a criterion with levels of 0, 0.50, 1.10, 1.40, 1.60, 1.80 and 2.0 points will have twice as much impact on the final grade as one with levels 0, 0.25, 0.55, 0.70, 0.80, 0.90 and 1.0 points.
Note: For the total mark to be calculated correctly, it is vital that for each criterion you either:
  • Include a level worth zero (0) points, OR
  • Enable the "Calculate grade based on the rubric having a minimum score of 0" option
IMPORTANT: The selection of appropriate values for each grade and the maximum value require careful consideration for accurate grade calculations and faculty-wide consistency. This set up should be done in consultation with your faculty Education Support team.
  1. Under Rubric options, select the Sort order and select the other options as desired.

    Screenshot of step 6
     
  2. To save the form as a draft, click Save as draft. To save and release it for assessment use, click Save rubric and make it ready.

    Screenshot of step 7

Create a new rubric from an existing one

Only rubrics that have been saved as shared templates are included in the search results. You can also include all the rubrics you yourself have created for the course in the search results, so that you use your marking forms without sharing them. Only forms that are Ready for usage can be re-used.

  1. Create an assignment and open the link on the course page.

    Clicking on assignment name
     
  2. On the Grading summary page, go to Settings and choose Advanced grading. Click Create new grading form from a template.

    Screenshot of step 2

     
  3. In the Grading forms search page, select the check box to include your own forms in the rubric search, enter any keywords necessary and click Search. (To view only your own forms, select the check box and leave the keyword field blank.)

    Screenshot of step 3
     
  4. When the search results display, locate the relevant rubric and click Use this template.

    Clicking on "Use this form as a template" button
     
  5. In the confirmation page, click Continue.

    Screenshot of step 5
     
  6. On the template page, click Edit the current form definition.

    Screenshot of step 6
     
  7. Change the Name and Description as necessary, and click the cells within the rubric to edit the text and points. Add criteria and levels as needed. Select Rubric options, then click Save as draft, or Save to release the rubric for use.

    Screenshot for step 7
     

Marks will be lost if you do not save them at this point.

Tell students how to view the rubric

Once you have set up the rubric, make it available by clicking Save. After saving, the rubric is available to marking staff to use when grading the assignment and students will be able to view the rubric when they open the assignment link.

If you choose Save as draft while setting up the rubric, students are still be able to see the rubric however it will not be available to marking staff during the grading process. If the rubric is in draft, you will see a message on the Advanced grading page stating "Please note: the advanced grading form is not ready at the moment. Simple grading method will be used until the form has a valid status".
Warning message "Please note: the advanced grading form is not ready at the moment. Simple grading method will be used until the form has a valid status."

You can control the visibility of the rubric by using the Rubric options above.

Edit a used rubric

You may decide that a rubric that has already been used for assessment requires editing.

If you make what the grading plugin considers significant changes (such as adding entire categories to the rubric), gradebook values and feedback for the activity will remain visible to students. However, students will not be able to see their marks for the various rubric categories until the assignment is re-graded. When making changes to a rubric, you should check that all graded submissions are still marked appropriately.

To access a rubric for an assignment for which submissions have been made:

  1. On the course home page, click Turn editing on Turn editing ON icon.
  2. Click the assignment's link.

    moodle_mk_assginment_rubric4.2.png
     
  3. On the Online Assignment Submission page, in the Settings block, select Advanced grading, then Define rubric.

    Screenshot of step 3
     
  4. On the Define rubric page, make and save your changes to the rubric.

Mark an assignment using a rubric

When you release a class's marks for an assignment marked with a rubric, each student will see:

  • the entire rubric
  • the levels you chose in relation to their own assignment
  • the comments you made (if any) for each rubric criterion
  • their total mark for the assignment and
  • any general feedback you entered for them.

To mark a submitted assignment using a rubric:

  1. On the course home page, click the link for the assignment.

    Clicking on assignment activity name
     
  2. On the assignment's home page, click the link View/grade all submissions. All the submitted assignments display.

    Screenshot of step 2
     
  3. Click a student's Grade icon to view their submission. The rubric displays below the assignment text (if an online text assignment) or below the submission details and the link to the uploaded assignment file.

    Screenshot for step 3
     
  4. View the submission.
  5. At Grade, for each criterion in the rubric.Rubric with almost full grades given
    • Click the level this submission has attained. You must click a level for each criterion, so that a total can be calculated.
    • If a text remark field is available, add a comment for the criterion, if you wish.
       
  6. Add more general Feedback if necessary, then click Save and show next to move on to the next submssion.
Marks will be lost if you do not save them at this point.

 

Additional information

External resources

For more information, see on this site:

  • Standards based assessment
  • Using assessment rubrics

Further assistance

If you experience technical or other issues, consult the Where to get help page.

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Page last updated: Monday 23 December 2019