What is a Rubric? 

A Rubric is an important tool that should be used to evaluate graded work. Rubrics break down a graded assignment into parts and list various levels of achievements in each part.  Rubrics can help grading be consistent and impartial. Rubrics can also help students know your expectations on their graded work because a rubric provides clear descriptions of the characteristics of the work.  

Using Rubrics in Blackboard

The Rubric tool in Blackboard is available for instructors to utilize in their courses. The tool:

• Allows the instructor to list evaluation criteria for an assignment.
• Helps students understand and adhere to the requirements of an assignment.
• Can be accessed from the Course Tool area of Blackboard Control Panel.
• Can be used with Assignments, Discussions Board Forums and Threads, Blogs, Wikis, and Journals.
• Allows you to import, create, copy, and delete rubrics.
• Has no limit of how many rubrics can be used in a course. 

Rubric Best Practices

• Rubrics should be shared with students in advance alongside assignment instructions.
• Explanations of the rubric, criteria, and levels of achievements should be provided to students.
• Good and poor examples of an assignment should be shared along with a rubric.
• Detailed feedback should be given to students when grading their work.
• Rubrics should be limited to three to five levels of achievement. 

Rubric Templates  

Rubrics Templates are available for downloading and can be imported into your Blackboard Course following this tutorial. Below are the files in zip form that can only be imported to Blackboard. The files are in a specific language formatted for Blackboard and can't be viewed in any other form or program outside of Blackboard. The files are also available in Word files that can be modified to meet your course rubric needs better. These rubrics have been reviewed and approved by Assessment and Accreditation. To view each rubric, click on the View Rubric link in the Screenshot of Rubric column. 

Rubric Tutorials 

Tutorials regarding rubrics can be found on the Blackboard Tutorials for Instructor page. 

Additional Help

For more help on rubrics, or to have a rubric you created approved by Assessment and Accreditation, please contact Huda Sarraj at hsarraj@central.uh.edu.