Add a Rubric/Grading Guide to a Forum

Why Do This?

An instructor can build a rubric or grading guide within Cougar Courses to use when grading a forum using whole forum grading (not available with Ratings). Please see our help guide on forum settings for more information on enabling whole forum grading. A rubric is a series of criterion with levels of achievement for each. When grading a student using a rubric the instructor chooses the level of achievement for each criterion and the overall score is automatically calculated. A grading guide is a series of criterion worth a certain number of points, however there are no levels of achievement. When grading a student using a grading guide the instructor writes comments for each criterion and assigns a score. The overall score is then automatically calculated. If used, the rubric/grading guide is visible to students, both before they post to the Forum and when reviewing their grade and feedback. Once the instructor builds a rubric or grading guide it can be used for any forum in any of their courses.

Overview

• Build a Rubric
• Build a Grading Guide

• Use a Previously Built Rubric/Grading Guide

Build a Rubric

1. While viewing the forum, click on the gear icon in the upper right to open the Forum administration block. Then click on Advanced Grading.

2. If you did not set the grading method in the settings to Rubric, do so now.

3. To build a new rubric choose “Define new grading form from scratch.” If instead you want to use a previously built rubric, skip down to the Use a Previously Built Rubric/Grading Guide section.

4. Give the rubric a name. If desired, provide a description.

5. Click to edit the name/text of first criterion.

6. Click the edit the name/text of the first level. Set the point value for this level.

7. Repeat for each level.

8. To add another level, click Add Level. To remove a level, click the X.

9. Click Add criterion to add another criterion.

10. Repeat steps 6-9 for each criterion.

11. We recommend keeping the defaults for the Rubric Options.

12. If your rubric is ready, click “save rubric and make it ready.” If you are still editing, click “save as draft.” Before you can use a rubric, you must eventually click “save rubric and make it ready.”

13. To edit the rubric, from the Advanced Grading area, click “Edit the current form definition.”

14. To delete the rubric, from the Advanced Grading area, click “delete the currently defined form”

Build a Grading Guide

1. While viewing the forum, click on the gear icon in the upper right to open the Forum administration block. Then click on Advanced Grading.

2. If you did not set the grading method in the settings to Grading Guide, do so now.

3. To build a new grading guide choose “Define new grading form from scratch.” If instead you want to use a previously built grading guide, skip down to the Use a Previously Built Rubric/Grading Guide section.

4. Give the grading guide a name. If desired, provide a description.

5. Enter a criterion name.

6. Enter a description visible to students.

7. Enter a description for graders.

8. Enter the Maximum Score for this criterion.

9. Click Add Criterion to add another criterion.

10. Repeat steps 6-9 for each criterion.

11. If you believe you will be using certain comments over and over when grading, you can pre-build them under Frequently Use Comments. Enter the comment in the “click to edit” box and then click “Add frequently used comment.” Repeat for each comment.

12. If your grading guide is ready, click “save grading guide and make it ready.” If you are still editing, click “save as draft.” Before you can use a grading guide, you must eventually click “save grading guide and make it ready.”

13. To edit the grading guide, from the Advanced Grading area, click “Edit the current form definition.”

14. To delete the grading guide, from the Advanced Grading area, click “delete the currently defined form.”

Use a Previously Built Rubric/Grading Guide

1. From the Advanced Grading page, click on “Create new grading form from a template.”

2. Check the box for “include my own forms” and enter the name of the rubric/grading guide in the search box. Click Search.

3. Underneath the rubric/grading guide you wish to use, click “use this form as a template.”

4. On the confirmation page click Continue.

5. If you wish to edit the rubric/grading guide, click “edit the current form definition.” Otherwise the rubric/grading guide is ready to be used.