Rubrics - Understanding and enabling the automatic assigning of grades

This article outlines how the overall score for a criterion or assessment is calculated when using Rubrics. Additionally it outlines the steps for enabling and configuring these options, complete with an example.

Should assistance be required with managing Rubrics calculations please contact the SEQTA Service Desk with an example. Be sure to include the 'class code', 'assessment name', 'criterion' and if possible a screenshot.

This article contains the following sections:

• Enabling the automatic assigning of grades and changing result type
• Understanding automatic assigning of Rubric results
• Example Rubric calculations
• Rubric result is incorrect

Enabling the automatic assigning of grades and changing result type

1. Go into Teaching workspace > Timetable > My classes/Traditional/Calendar.
2. Click on the Load programme icon for the class.
3. Select Overview of assessments.
4. Select the applicable Assessment.
5. Under 'Accessible criteria' click to open the Rubric popup.

   

6. Set the marking type for Rubric descriptors to Grades-based or Numeric ('Explanatory' does not allow results to be entered).
7. Click OK.
8. Set the marking type for the assessment to Grades or Marks. One or both of these options will display depending on the Course type selected in the Marks book settings.
   • Marks (Marks-based Course type).
   • Grades (Grades-based Course type).
   • Both Marks and Grades (Mixed-mode Course type).
9. Select OK.
10. Click SAVE in the top left-hand corner of the work area.

Understanding automatic assigning of Rubric results

• Rubrics are just a weighted average.
• Each line's score is the selected descriptors value divided by the highest value in that line.
• Those scores are then combined using a weighted average – the score for each line is multiplied by the weight of that line divided by the total weights for each line that's marked.
• We then sum these all together to arrive at a score between 0 and 1.
• We then multiple the maximum achievable score for that criterion by the 0-1 value, which gives us the calculated score for that criterion.

Example Rubric calculations

1. The overall criterion calculation for a numeric rubric is as follows:

[(Line 1 score/Max line 1 score * Line 1 weight/total weight lines 1 & 2) + (Line 2 score/Max line 2 score * Line 2 weight/total weight lines 1 & 2)] * Max criterion score

= [(15/20 * 1/2) + (10/15 * 1/2)] * 40
= [0.375 + 0.334] * 40
= 0.708 * 40
= 28.33

2. The overall criterion calculation for a grades-based rubric is as follows (it uses the grades-based mid-point calculations in the following example):

[(Line 1 mid-point/Line 1 highest mid-point * Line 1 weight/total weight of all lines) + (Line 2 mid-point/Line 2 highest mid-point * Line 2 weight/total weight of all lines)] * Highest mid-point

= [(90/90 * 1/2) + (50/90 * 1/2)] * 90
= [0.5 + 0.278] * 90
= 0.778 * 90
= 70 (or B if converted back to a grade)

Rubric result is incorrect or had not updated after change to Rubric

Changes to the Rubric such as the scoring type, weighting, values, adding and removing rows or cells will render the result different to what is was when entered.

By design, the results will not automatically recalculate. Rather they need to be updated through focus mode (steps below), this is to ensure the teacher at all times is aware of what results are set to. 

To get the systems to recalculate the score with the changes:

1. Go to the Teaching workspace > Timetable > My classes/Traditional/Calendar.
2. Click on the Marks book icon for the class.
3. Go into Focus mode for the student/assessment.
4. Click on one of the selections on the Rubric to deselect it, then select it again, the values will update and the yellow background will show.
5. Click SAVE.