The Moodle rubric is a tool that enhances clarity, consistency, and transparency in evaluation. It is especially useful in situations where courses have large numbers of students or where learning takes place mainly online. With the rubric, evaluation criteria and learning objectives can be communicated clearly to students already when the assignment is given.
Implementing the rubric in a Moodle assignment
The rubric is enabled in the settings of Moodle’s Assignment activity under the Grade section. By default, the evaluation method is Simple, direct grading. From the grading method menu choose Rubric. After making the change, save the settings and select Advanced grading. From now on, the rubric is managed in the assignment settings under the Advanced grading tab.
Students automatically see the rubric in the assignment submission view unless it has been specifically hidden. It is recommended to guide students to check the rubric at the bottom of the assignment page, as it is often overlooked.
Defining the grading scale and criteria
The rubric consists of a set of criteria plotted against levels of achievement. A numeric grade is assigned to each level. The rubric can be implemented, for example, as a three- or five-level scale . A rubric derived from learning objectives and divided into numerical levels often proves to be an effective solution. It is important to define a failed performance (0 points) and describe what kind of submission is considered insufficient. In addition, it is advisable to decide in advance whether the overall performance determines the evaluation or whether all parts must be passed individually.
Structure and settings of the rubric
When creating the rubric, first define the areas to be evaluated on the left. For usability, it is recommended to change the sorting order of proficiency levels below the rubric to Descending order by points. This way, the excellent level is placed on the left and failed on the right, which matches commonly used evaluation tables.
Next, descriptions derived from learning objectives are entered into the evaluation fields, after which the rubric is saved for use. The published rubric can still be edited, but it is recommended to make any changes before the assignment start date so that all students have the same evaluation criteria available.
Evaluation of the submissions
Once students have submitted their assignments, the rubric is visible to the teacher in the Assignment grading view in the right sidebar. The rubric can be enlarged by clicking on it.
Evaluation is done by selecting the level that best describes the performance for each area. Once an evaluation level has been chosen for all criteria, Moodle automatically calculates the overall grade. The student sees both the grade received and the selected evaluation levels. In addition, separate verbal comments can be given to support the evaluation, either generally or for specific areas.
Creating the rubric initially takes time, but it supports systematic and fair evaluation as well as eases the teacher’s workload over the long term. The rubric helps ensure that all submissions are evaluated based on the same criteria and that evaluation bases are transparent to students.
Read more
Moodle.docs: Rubric Instructions
Tip: AI Supporting assessment: Creating a rubric
Tip provided by: Miina Kivelä, Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing, Business and Media
Original publication from which the tip was adapted with the author’s permission: TAMK blog: Moodlen arviointimatriisi tuo selkeyttä ja läpinäkyvyyttä arviointiin.