Assessment Rubrics

Rubric Assessment in Outcome-Based Education (OBE)

What is the role of rubrics in OBE?

Rubrics are used for assessment under the outcome-based approach to learning and teaching. They are criterion-referenced and evaluate how well students have met the assessment criteria of the intended learning outcomes rather than how well they perform compared to their peers. As such, rubrics play a pivotal role in aligning what outcomes to achieve in learning, teaching, and assessment activities.

How do rubrics help with quality assurance?

A rubric provides subject grade qualitative descriptions of student academic standards, which forms a basis for comparing the subject intended learning outcomes offered by similar levels of subjects within the department, as well as in other institutions.

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What is PolyU’s Policy on Rubric?

As stated in the Handbook on Academic Regulations for Taught Programmes, Section C1, 4:

Rubrics must be specified for all ‘major’ assessment items [or components/ tasks] at the subject level, made available to students before the assessment, and used for grading the assessment. Departments have the flexibility to determine what is ‘major’. As a rule of thumb:

For subjects without examinations, rubrics should be required for single assessment items with a weighting of 30% or above of the subject’s overall assessment.
For subjects with examinations, rubrics should be required for single assessment items with a weighting of 20% or above of the subject’s overall assessment.

Click or tap here to access the Handbook on Academic Regulations for Taught Programmes (updated July 2022)

What is an Institutional Level Subject Grade Descriptor (ILSGD)?

An Institutional Level Subject Grade Descriptor (ILSGD) is established to ensure consistency of standards across subjects. It can be used to guide the marking process and assignment of the overall subject grades, as well as clarify expectations for students. The standards to be achieved for each grade should be well aligned among ILSGD, Programme Level Grade Descriptors, Course Level Grade Descriptors and assessment rubrics for grade consistency.

Click or tap here for the ILSGD published in Handbook on Academic Regulations for Taught Programmes (July 2022)

Rubric Assessment in Outcome-Based Education (OBE)

Watch the video for a better understanding of why rubric assessment is important under OBE.
Duration: 02:46’

Developing and Evaluating Rubrics

What is a rubric?

A rubric is a tool that conveys expectations of work quality by means of a coherent set of criteria when assessing students’ work. It usually consists of a task description, performance criteria, a rating scale or levels of performance, and grade descriptors.

Why do we use rubrics?

A rubric shows how well students are performing against the criteria set. It also helps to scaffold the development of students’ knowledge and skills in achieving the intended learning outcomes.

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Developing and Evaluating Rubrics

Watch the video for a better understanding of the various considerations when designing rubrics.

Duration: 6:07'

Teaching with Rubrics

Why do we teach with rubrics?

Assessment is an integral part of learning and teaching under the outcome-based approach to education. Accordingly, criterion-referenced and performance-based assessment that promotes the use of formative assessment for provision of feedback and that of summative assessment for final evaluation of the quality of student work is encouraged. Rubrics are, among all others, the most commonly adopted criterion-referenced assessment tool in higher education.