So true, Connie. I find that when students are given clear expectations, the work produce is far better. Plus having a rubric makes the grading process much easier, too.

Good points, Martha; especially about the categories!

I agree with you that a wiki has so much more potential beyond a digital scrap book.

As an art teacher, I can't help saying that I use rubrics to grade art projects. . . to bring the process out of the subjective into the as concrete as is feasible. To generate a score, the rubric's criteria have to be measurable, and criteria like "creativity" or "uniqueness" really aren't easy to measure. But I use the rubric to as a tool generate reflection by the student and a discussion between the teacher and student.

Great thoughts, Nancy.

I use the wiki almost exclusively for student projects and couldn't agree with you more about their real value coming from the ability to truly collaborate. In a classroom setting it is much easier to have students develop a rubric which is concrete and content focused. When a class is exclusively online, that seemingly small negotiation task could take weeks. I've found it's more effective for me to develop assignment rubrics rather than try to tease out the most important concepts in a class discussion. The challenge has been that evaluating writing can be highly subjective, so in order to provide adequate guidance for students it's necessary to define and sometimes explain seemingly simple language (such as "credible sources" and "interpretation" in the rubric above).

One of the most effective tasks I ask of teams is to evaluate one another's projects using the assessment rubric. At the end of the term each team evaluates two other teams, one from the competing campus that was working on the same subject and one of a different subject. In fact, I like the assignment so well that I'm going to BEGIN the new fall projects by having students evaluate the previous term's winning projects using the assessment rubric that will be used to evaluate their team projects.

I'm also a strong advocate of keeping the focus on the intended learning outcomes rather than the technology. As long as YOU keep that focus, each choice you make about how to use the wiki will be soundly based and likely profitable for students. :) I can hardly wait to visit your wiki. I'm betting the pedagogy will be explicit in its design. :)

Regards,
Linda R - mentor

I teach comp, too, Leslie, so your observation about the way you judge writing in the wiki very interesting. I wonder if it has to do with the fact "they work quickly." If the wiki is used for brainstorming or quick writing activities, it would not be fair to grade the writing as rigorously as you might if the students were research and collaborating on a more complex project that developed over time.

Even the rubrics would be quite different. Discussion rubrics (in fully online classes) often give as much weight to developed participation (something like "at least one fully developed paragraph on at least three separate days) as they do to the use of credible sources and more reflective development. I've really grown fond of rubrics since I switched from a tenured position that required at least 40% of my load be in the classroom to being an adjunct who specializes exclusively in online educating. Rubrics not only make expectations clear for students, they also make them clear for me.

They certainly have to be carefully developed, don't they? There have been times when a student has met the stated objectives in a rubric and received a grade I did not think was appropriate. The problem becomes how to develop a rubric which is truly reflective of the outcomes we seek.

:) Linda R - mentor

I know what you mean about rubrics reducing bias. I was just telling Leslie how hard it is to give a student a grade that I didn't *feel* was warranted because that student actually did achieve the objectives as defined on the rubric. I can't say using rubrics has make my grading faster, though. I still write way too much on many assignments. I did find a GREAT tool for speeding up the comment process. It's called SmartKeys. It works a bit like a macro, but it will work not only in a text document but also on the web, in the wiki, etc.

Using SmartKeys I've created a repository of responses that are used over and over and over. I can make a fully developed comment and add a link to a specific resource, all with just a few keystrokes. At most I need to personalize those messages just a bit. Between rubrics, SmartKeys, and Turnitin.com, the grading process has gotten somewhat easier. :)

Thanks.
Linda R - mentor

Yes, I think that the use of rubrics - especially when grading compositions or portfolios - helps keep me on track as much as it gives students guidelines while they are creating their work. For the former, it creates a plumbline for me while I grade to keep me from allowing bias to creep into my grading (no, teachers don't really have preferences for students, do they?). And, for students, rubrics allow them to decide how much they want to devote to an assignment (do they really want to do all implied in the rubric to achieve an "A"?) or how well they have created that to that point.

I can't imagine now working without one!

When I was first getting into the habit of creating rubrics, I found Rubistar (http://camppbworks.pbworks.com/Rubrics#cr1246066707). This site (free with an initial registration) helps educators create rubrics for specific assignments that are downloadable or can be posted to web sites. There are templates for specific types of assignments or can be personalized for your particular assignments. It's a way of gaining confidence until you're ready to create your own.