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How To Use The Rubrics

A rubric template is downloaded then SETUP once by a course co-ordinator to describe a particular assignment. It is then distributed to assessors to USE for marking that assignment. This document describes how to USE the previously setup rubric to mark a particular assignment. (Note: If a rubric has NOT already been setup for you to use in assessing a particular assignment, please read the How to Setup the Rubrics instructions.)

The rubric workbook (Excel file) which you will be using for the assessment should have already been downloaded and setup, either by you or a course co-ordinator. You should have the rubric workbook file saved to your computer's hard disk.

This example will illustrate how to use a previously setup rubric workbook:

Open the rubric workbook (.xls file) on your hard disk.
Type your name in the cell next to ASSESSOR at the top of the Rubric worksheet.
Move to the Summary worksheet. If student names and IDs are not already present, you need to enter them by typing or by using the “Import Names and IDs” button on the Summary sheet. If you didn’t import names, use the “number of students” button on either the Setup or Rubric worksheet.
Assess a student's assignment.
1. Type the student's name and or student id number at the top of the worksheet.
2. For each assessment criteria row, click a radio box in a cell to the right, corresponding to the grade you want to give.
3. Optionally enter an Assessor's Comment.
4. Click on the Next Student button to assess the next student's assignment.
Check the Summary worksheet.
Optionally, use the “Export Scores” button to export names and scores into a file which you can import into Blackboard Gradebook or a database or spreadsheet.
Optionally, print the assessments.

The rubric workbook (Excel file) which you will be using for the assessment should have already been downloaded and setup, either by you or your course co-ordinator. You should have the rubric workbook file saved to your computer's hard disk:
Double-click the downloaded file (i.e.: “essay-rubric.xls or online-rubric.xls etc. ”). It should open in Microsoft Excel.
When it opens you should get a macro security warning:

Click on Enable Macros.
(If you didn't see the macro security warning)
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Select the first Rubric worksheet tab from the bottom left of the workbook.
Confirm that the rubric TITLE matches the name of the assignment you will be assessing, such as “Dickens Essay”.
Read the assessment criteria in column B, along the left of the table and notice the weighting of each of the assessment criteria:
Type your name in the cell next to ASSESSOR at the top of the Rubric worksheet:
Move to the Summary worksheet. If student names and IDs are not already present, you need to enter them by typing or by using the “Import Names and IDs” button on the Summary sheet. If you didn’t import names, use the “number of students” button on either the Setup or Rubric worksheet.

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Click on the first Rubric tab to assess the first student:
Type the student's name and or student id number at the top of the worksheet
(Type your name next to "Assessor" if you haven't already done so.)
For each assessment criteria row, click a radio box in a cell to the right, corresponding to the grade you want to give (F, P, CR, D, HD).
After you've selected a grade in every assessment criteria row, the calculated score and grade shown at the bottom right of the sheet are valid:
invalid to valid

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If you wish to provide additional feedback to the student you can type a comment in the Assessor's Comment box at the bottom of the worksheet.
Just click in the box and start typing. Hint: to start a new line within the cell, press Alt-Return.
Don’t risk losing your work. Save your changes now by doing File>Save.
When you're ready to assess the next student click on the Next Student button at the bottom right of the worksheet. A new, blank rubric worksheet will be created if necessary and you will advance to the next Rubric worksheet. Repeat from step 8 to assess each student.
After you've finished assessing all students for this assignment, check that you don't have any blank, unused Rubric( ) worksheets at the end of your workbook. If you do, you must delete them by clicking on the "number of students?" button and entering the correct number of students. Extraneous worksheets will be deleted from the end of your workbook.

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Inspect the Summary worksheet by clicking on the Summary tab to the left of the first Rubric tab. Learn more about the Summary sheet.
Optionally, use the “Export Scores” button on the Summary worksheet to export names and scores into a file which you can import into Blackboard Gradebook or a database or spreadsheet.
If you want to give each student a copy of their assessment, go to any Rubric worksheet, then click on the Print button. Choose the Print all ? student worksheets button to print each rubric worksheet, which you can then mail or give to each student. (Note: don't change any settings in Page Setup before printing).

If you want to email assessment to each student, print to all worksheets to a PDF file.

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