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Using
Rubrics to Effect Authentic Assessment
of Adult Learners
Jennifer P. Cochran
Shelly M. Boardman
What are Authentic Assessments?
Authentic assessments
are engaging, meaningful problems or
tasks that match the content and authentic
outcomes of instruction. They
are multistage demonstrations of knowing
what and knowing how and emphasize
product and process, conveying that
both development and achievement matter. "Authentic
assessments incorporate a wide variety
of techniques 'designed to correspond
as closely as possible to 'real
world' student experiences" (Custer,
1994, p. 66; Rudner and Boston, 1994).
What Is A Rubric?
A
rubric is an authentic assessment tool
which is being increasingly used since
it is particularly useful in assessing
criteria which are complex and subjective.For
most educators, a rubric is a printed set
of scoring guidelines (criteria) for evaluating
work (a performance or a product) and for
giving feedback. A rubric answers the questions:
- By what criteria will the work be
judged?
- What is the difference between good
work and weaker work?
- How can we make sure our judgments
(or scores) are valid and reliable?
- How can both performers and judges
focus their preparation on excellence?
Rubrics all contain three common features
which:
- focus on measuring a stated objective (performance,
behavior, or quality).
- use a range to rate performance.
- contain specific performance characteristics
arranged in levels indicating the degree to
which a standard has been met (Pickett
and Dodge).
There are two principal
types of rubrics: analytic
and holistic. Analytic rubrics identify
and assess multiple criteria or components
of a finished product. Levels of performance
for each criterion are articulated
so the teacher can assess student performance
on each criterion. In contrast,
a holistic rubric does not list
separate levels of performance for each
criterion. Instead, a holistic rubric
assesses performance across multiple
criteria as a whole. Holistic rubrics
tend to be used when a quick or gross
judgment needs to be made, or for assessing
tasks where the criteria for performance
are not easily evaluated independently.
Rubrics can also be summative (used
to evaluate a completed project/process)
or formative (used to give feedback
during a project/process.)
There are six basic steps to creating
a rubric:
- Identify the learning outcomes which
this measure is designed to assess.
- What is this rubric to evaluate?
Look for models.
- Determine
the salient characteristics/criteria
for this measure—ideally, the
rubric should focus on 4-6 criteria.
- Define
the performance levels, indicators
(standards) and/or descriptors. These
can be expressed quantitatively (points),
qualitatively (descriptors), or a combination
of both.
- Identify the behaviors at each performance
level. And finally,
- Test the rubric, including training
of the evaluators.
Why Use Rubrics with Adult Learners?
Adult learners continuously
evaluate their learning performance and
their progress. They want to be able
to answer the question, Am I getting
this? Knowles (1980) describes
adult learners as autonomous and self-directed;
they set goals for themselves and seek
relevance in the learning process. Authentic
learning tasks speak to these needs
of adult learners, and the rubric as
an authentic assessment tool helps
to make visible the connections adult
learners seek between the learning
task, performance expectations, and
learning outcomes.
Rubric development
is time consuming and labor intensive,
must be designed for specific assignments,
and may be seen to lack flexibility
and curtail creativity. However, the advantages
offered by rubrics make them well worth
the effort. They lead assessment to be
more objective and consistent, and require
the instructor to clarify his/her learning
outcomes and criteria for evaluation. Rubrics
can also help students to understand
what is expected from them and how their
work will be evaluated. In addition,
rubrics provide the instructor with useful
feedback regarding the effectiveness
of their instruction and can provide
benchmarks against which to measure and
document progress.
For additional information about rubrics
and authentic assessment we recommend
these sites and books:
Resources for Rubrics and Rubric
Development
http://www.winona.edu/air/resources.htm
http://www.winona.edu/air/rubrics.htm
http://www.calstate.edu/acadaff/sloa/links/rubrics.shtml
http://www.cu.edu/academicaffairs/assessment/assessment_toolbox/rubrics
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/rubrics.htm
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/triton/july/rubrics/Rubric_Guidelines.html
Resources for Authentic Assessment
and Adult Learners
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2003/oct2003/dobrovolny.htm
http://www.cete.org/acve/docgen.asp?tbl=archive&ID=A032
http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/
Knowles, M. S. (1970) The Modern
Practice of Adult Education. Andragogy
versus pedagogy, Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice Hall/Cambridge
Bibliography
Custer, R.L. (1994).Performance-Based
Education Implementation Handbook, Columbia: Instructional
Materials Lab, University of Missouri.
Knowles, M. S. (1970, 1980) The Modern
Practice of Adult Education. Andragogy
versus pedagogy, Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice Hall/Cambridge
Rudner, L.M. and Boston, C. (Winter,
1994). "Performance
Assessment." ERIC Review 3(1),
2-12.
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