Rubrics as an Assessment Tool in Distance Education

Effective communication of the grading process to students is a concern that many online instructors face. The purpose of this entry is to show how the use of a rubric as an assessment tool clarifies for distance education instructors and their students the expectations, criteria, and performance levels of assignments, plus – more importantly – how the rubric details the description of the earned grade. Many student activities can be assessed similarly in a distance learning situation to the building-based environment. There are traditional assignments, such as multiple choice tests and homework, which measure students’ ability to absorb content information. Alternate assessments—such as paintings, stories, projects, essays, portfolios, journals, web page designs, simulations, group activities, PowerPoint® presentations, self-evaluations, etc.—ask the student to demonstrate their knowledge about the learning process or the quality and effectiveness of some product that they have authored.