The efficacy of the use of technology-based rubrics in first term courses

There seems to be a general consensus among college instructors that using technology-based rubrics as a tool to provide students with formative feedback promotes learning and critical thinking. According to Howland, Jonassen, and Marra (2012), technology-based rubrics “can promote intentional learning by identifying important aspects of the performance, gathering information about the learner’s performance, and using the information to improve learner performance.” However, the literature does not provide a clear conclusion as to whether rubrics have an impact on the quality of student work or promotes learning. In fact, Green and Bowser (2006) showed no differences in the quality of work done by students whether the rubric was given prior to the submission of an assignment or provided by the instructor after the submission of an assignment. Perhaps the answer lies in making sure both students’ and instructors’ perceptions about rubrics are the same. That is, that both parties understand how the rubrics will be used in the classroom. This would be especially important in first term courses where students may lack the experience using rubrics. While there is a gap in the research as to the efficacy of the use of rubrics in general, there is no research with regard to the efficacy of technology-based rubrics in first term courses. This presentation will discuss the need for first term students to understand how to use a technology-based rubric before the rubric is applied for the formative assessment of assignments. Additionally, the presentation will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using technology tools (rubric banks and rubric generation tools) for creating and supporting the use of rubrics in first term courses.