We have spent considerable time in the first two weeks of class investigating the importance of being clear with students concerning objectives. Whereas I think I do a fair job instructing students what is expected of them on their assignments, I rarely give a rubric showing how they will be assessed. I am arguably a product of my environment in that I teach in much the same way I was taught. My teachers never gave rubrics with assignments although directions were made clear as to what they expected. But as times have changed, both with the types of students that sit in our classrooms and the quality of technologies available to teachers, it would be wise to reevaluate how my expectations for student work are delivered. To that end, I have examined both Rubistar and IRubric to see if either might be viable options for providing information to my students concerning how they are graded.
If time is short, Rubistar provides a great tool for easily creating rubrics. Templates are provided for a variety of assignments, and numerous categories within each assignment can be selected. Preloaded descriptions of each category aptly describe how the student is being evaluated. The user can customize existing descriptions in order to tailor evaluation to fit his or her needs. The finished rubric can be printed, downloaded, and even saved to an online database. The finished rubric looks professional and can be edited as the user's needs change. The downside of Rubistar is that there are only four scoring criteria for the rubrics. I have never used a point system in my classroom, and if I did, I would want five scoring criteria available. When teaching the 6+1 writing traits, a five point scale would parallel the scoring given with the trait descriptions. That being said, Rubistar provides a vehicle that provides easy to produce rubrics that can save precious time for a teacher while delivering clear objectives to the students.
IRubric has a site that appeals to the eye more than Rubistar. Rubric templates can be searched in a database or rubrics can be created from scratch. Once a rubric is created, that template can be used for other rubrics. Although IRubric doesn't have the auto fill device provided by Rubistar, it does offer the ability to create more categories for grading criteria. Another nice feature of IRubric is the ability to create a link or embed the rubric. I am making a concerted effort to reduce the amount of paper used in my classroom, and the link and embed features will help me achieve this goal. Rubrics are stored online and can be edited as the need requires. So although IRubric takes a little more time to create a rubric, I think that the features make this an excellent tool for assessment.
Although using rubrics in my classroom might be a new idea, giving quizzes is not. Frequent quizzes are delivered during the study of a piece of literature, and I always try to look for new ways for students to be assessed. I have tinkered with Senteo and Hot Potatoes with excellent results, but now Quia and Quizstar have been brought to my attention.
Quia is a neat tool in that it allows the teacher to utilize many tools besides simply creating quizzes. Although better suited for the grade school teacher, the activities section allows teachers to provide learning through different games. There is also a search mechanism that allows the teacher to find work that other teachers have created. Quia also has a survey creator and settings can be customized to achieve the desired purpose. The site offers a nice video tutorial illustrating the advantages of using the service. For quizzes, Quia is easy to use and provides an array of choices concerning question styles. All objective question will be automatically graded, and preferences for feedback can be set by the teacher. There is a nice timing feature that can be set to control how long a student has to complete the quiz. Once a quiz is created, a link is provided for students to retrieve and complete the quiz. The teacher can control how students register for the class, and results can be saved in classes that have been created by the teacher. Quia offers a 30 day trial for teachers, and a yearly subscription can be purchased for $49.
Quizstar is another tool for creating quizzes, but doesn't have the activity or survey features of Quia. Quizstar allows for quizzes to be shared with other teachers but only if permission is granted. Like Quia, QuizStar allows the teacher to control registration and whether or not the class is private or public. Objective questions will be graded automatically, and a variety of question styles can be created. Students will login to QuizStar to complete their quiz, and results are stored automatically in a grade book. The teacher can place time constraints on any quiz created, and results can be emailed to the teacher. Feedback can be immediate, received after completing a question, or set to be delivered at the end of the quiz. QuizStar also provides a free trial of 60 days, after which a yearly subscription can be purchased for $39. QuizStar parallels the features of Quia and would be another nice resource to have in the teaching arsenal.
I think that Rubistar and IRubric are two tools that I will tinker with during the next school year. The quiz generators are nice, but I am not interested in lightening my wallet when I have Senteo and Hot Potatoes for free at my fingertips. That being said, it is always wise to have as many options available for use when it comes to evaluating student work throughout the year.
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