Authentic Assessment Using Rubrics to Evaluate Project-Based Learning Curriculum content created and presented by Dr. Alexandra Leavell Associate Professor of Teacher Education University of North Texas

Module Objectives  List and explain the characteristics of a rubric.  Enumerate the benefits of rubrics to teachers and students.  Describe the criteria of an effective rubric.

Essential Questions  How will the use of PBL and authentic assessments help me meet the needs of learners with different abilities?  How will using rubrics help me meet curricular goals?  How do rubrics help my students become better learners?  How will rubrics improve my teaching?

The Cookie Dilemma Which chocolate chip cookie would you want to eat?

 Cookie elements or dimensions:  Overall Taste  Texture  Color  Number of chocolate chips  Richness The Cookie Dilemma

 Range of “performance” for a chocolate chip cookie:  Delicious (7-8)  Tasty (5-6)  Edible (3-4)  Yuck! (1-2) The Cookie Dilemma

DeliciousTastyEdibleYuck Number of chips Texture Color Overall taste Richness Cookie Rubric

 View a web page or download a printable version of the completed cookie rubric which appears on the next slide from the Resources page.

DeliciousTastyEdibleYuck Number of chips Chip in every bite Chips in 75% of bites Chips in 50% of bites Too few chips TextureChewyChewy middle, crispy edges Crunchy or uncooked Like a dog biscuit ColorGolden brownToo brown or too light Very brown or very light Burned Overall taste Home baked taste Quality store bought taste TastelessTastes terrible, burnt, stale RichnessRich, creamy, High fat Medium fat content Low-fat flavor Nonfat flavor Cookie Rubric

Characteristics of a Rubric A scoring guide which:  Directly examines learner performance on “worthy intellectual tasks” (Wiggins) Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. (1998) Understanding by Design.

Characteristics of a Rubric A scoring guide which:  Describes different performance criteria  Defines precise requirements

 Type of authentic assessment  Allows for varying levels of expertise  Gives a range or continuum of performance levels Characteristics of a Rubric

 Scaffolds learner improvement  Benchmark descriptions define task competencies or criteria  Helps teachers identify areas each student needs to improve  Allows students to understand how to improve projects and get a better grade Characteristics of a Rubric

 Both a formative and a summative assessment  Formative assessment because it defines criteria for student performance in advance  Summative assessment because it will be the basis for determining a grade for the project Characteristics of a Rubric

Why Use Rubrics?  Rubrics can be an integral part of the teaching and learning process  Give students a basis for self- assessment  Promote independent learning  Eliminate vague assessment criteria and overly subjective performance behavior

Teachers Use Rubrics to…  Answer the question “Why did you give me a D?”  Define expectations for learners and for themselves by clearly showing students how their work will be evaluated  Link assignments clearly to curricular goals D? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

 Inform instruction as criteria are defined  Provide an effective means to evaluate skills and processes, especially those (like PBL) which don’t lend themselves to a simple objective assessment approach Teachers Use Rubrics to…

 Communicate specific information to parents and other stakeholders about student performance and learning objectives  Provide helpful feedback regarding the effectiveness of instruction  Provide benchmarks for evaluating student progress Teachers Use Rubrics to…

Students Use Rubrics to…  Answer the question “Why did I get a D?”  Take more responsibility for their learning  Increase independence  Lower anxiety about assignments and projects D? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

 Get involved in the teaching/learning process through self and peer evaluation  Heighten awareness regarding concepts and learning processes (by constructing their own rubrics) Students Use Rubrics to…

When Should I Use a Rubric?  “Real life learning”  To address complex and subjective criteria  For non-objective types of assignments

 When the nature of the learning is not cut and dried, i.e. there is no “right” answer and no “wrong” answer  Technical projects  Project-based learning When Should I Use a Rubric?

Holistic Rubrics  Evaluate students’ work as a whole  See Resources for an example of a holistic rubric. example of a holistic rubric.

Analytic Rubrics  Assesses components of the project in progress and when finished.  One example would be the chocolate chip cookie rubric.  See another example in Resources.another example

Review This module covers:  Characteristics of rubrics  How rubrics can guide learners  How rubrics help teachers adjust instruction  Types of tasks that are appropriate for the use of rubrics

Preparation Before watching the next ADAM, read more about authentic assessments and rubrics from the Resources web page. In the next module, creating rubrics will be discussed.