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Makes sense to provide a rubric for lab reports in general at the beginning of the year, and maybe a specific content one for the first report they do. After that, assignments can be given that are more vague about content - enumerating every detail when assignments are handed out to the point that no independent thought is necessary is a design flaw, not an inherent flaw of rubrics. It is possible to make the independent interpretation of what is important part of what is actually graded on an assignment. Rubrics don't exclude independent thought, though poorly designed ones might.
Can you include a section in your rubric for the level of independent thought and work? This might be a 4 = student works completely independently of the teacher; 3 = student seeks help from the teacher up to 3 times; 2 = the student seeks help 4 or 5 times; 1 = the student sought help 6 or more times. For independent thought it might be something like 4 = student used materials presented at the beginning of the semester to present information and draw conclusions; 3 = student asks for a copy of the material to be presented and/or asks for help in drawing a conclusion; 2 = student asks for a list of topics to be included on the lab and/or what the data and conclusion should be; 1 = student only includes information and no conclusions about the topics.
This is just off the top of my head, but the rubrics at Intel Teach focus on requiring students to do deep thinking and reflection. The parents wouldn't be able to argue very strongly if you stated that scientific habits are part of the rubrics. What kind of rubrics are you currently using?
Can you include a section in your rubric for the level of independent thought and work? This might be a 4 = student works completely independently of the teacher; 3 = student seeks help from the teacher up to 3 times; 2 = the student seeks help 4 or 5 times; 1 = the student sought help 6 or more times. For independent thought it might be something like 4 = student used materials presented at the beginning of the semester to present information and draw conclusions; 3 = student asks for a copy of the material to be presented and/or asks for help in drawing a conclusion; 2 = student asks for a list of topics to be included on the lab and/or what the data and conclusion should be; 1 = student only includes information and no conclusions about the topics.
I like your second example - if the independence is something you value, I think it should be part of the assessment.
This is just off the top of my head, but the rubrics at Intel Teach focus on requiring students to do deep thinking and reflection. The parents wouldn't be able to argue very strongly if you stated that scientific habits are part of the rubrics. What kind of rubrics are you currently using?
I don't teach science (have taught History and English) so it wouldn't be apples to apples, but agree with your premise about making scientific habits part of the rubric. Hopefully you have the flexibility to use your own and aren't mandated to use district or publisher-created rubrics.
Can you include a section in your rubric for the level of independent thought and work? This might be a 4 = student works completely independently of the teacher; 3 = student seeks help from the teacher up to 3 times; 2 = the student seeks help 4 or 5 times; 1 = the student sought help 6 or more times. For independent thought it might be something like 4 = student used materials presented at the beginning of the semester to present information and draw conclusions; 3 = student asks for a copy of the material to be presented and/or asks for help in drawing a conclusion; 2 = student asks for a list of topics to be included on the lab and/or what the data and conclusion should be; 1 = student only includes information and no conclusions about the topics.
This is just off the top of my head, but the rubrics at Intel Teach focus on requiring students to do deep thinking and reflection. The parents wouldn't be able to argue very strongly if you stated that scientific habits are part of the rubrics. What kind of rubrics are you currently using?
Thank you! I love that idea. I have some very needy students who, constantly, want me to read what they've written and pre approve it. Assigning points for independent work would work quite nicely here. I'm not sure how parents are going to react to this though. I don't think they're going to like the idea of my taking points off if their children ask for too much help but part of learning science is learning to think, scientifically, on your own.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 01-10-2012 at 06:50 PM..
Some responses that some teachers might very well get from their students or students' parents...
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauramc27
Here is a Rubric for my 4th grade daughters Timeline and Summary:
Timeline shows at least 5 important events and/or
accomplishments of the person /20
***"At least" five? So how many, precisely, would be needed for a grade of A? What do you mean by "important"? If I decide it's important, isn't it important to me? If you don't think it's important, that's just your opinion.
Timeline is neat, easy to read, and visually appealing /5
**What, precisely, do you mean by "visually appealing"? Isn't that subjective? How are you measuring visual appeal?
Summary is well organized (organization) /10
***How do you define "well-organized"?
Summary is well-written (sentence fluency) /10
***How do you define "well-written" Isn't that just subjective?
Summary has no spelling, punctuation, capitalization,
or grammatical errors (conventions) /10
Some responses that some teachers might very well get from their students or students' parents...
As usual, you are spot on. This is the kind of feedback I get when using rubrics. Parents want a roadmap to an A. They want a list that can be checked off that will ensure a high grade. Period. They are not learning tools.
Personally, I don't think they should be given to students. I think students should be given instructions that require them to think. The grading rubric is just a tool to keep the teacher consistent.
What does your administration say about the need to be so specific? I was never required to be that specific on a rubric.
I can't speak for IT, nor am I speaking for all teachers, but many administrators with which I am familiar at first and second hand tend to side with the parents at all costs, and in effect, turn into the student's contract law expert, e.g., "Well, Ms. Bear, you said 'five sources,' but Billy here has used five sources. Of course, they're all from the same place, but you didn't say that the students had to use five different sources. No, it's pretty clear here that Billy did what you asked him to do."
Can you include a section in your rubric for the level of independent thought and work? This might be a 4 = student works completely independently of the teacher; 3 = student seeks help from the teacher up to 3 times; 2 = the student seeks help 4 or 5 times; 1 = the student sought help 6 or more times. For independent thought it might be something like 4 = student used materials presented at the beginning of the semester to present information and draw conclusions; 3 = student asks for a copy of the material to be presented and/or asks for help in drawing a conclusion; 2 = student asks for a list of topics to be included on the lab and/or what the data and conclusion should be; 1 = student only includes information and no conclusions about the topics.
This is just off the top of my head, but the rubrics at Intel Teach focus on requiring students to do deep thinking and reflection. The parents wouldn't be able to argue very strongly if you stated that scientific habits are part of the rubrics. What kind of rubrics are you currently using?
I know this wasn't addressed to me, and I am genuinely not trying to be a nitpicking naysayer, but to be honest, this would never fly at many school districts. I can imagine the conversation taking place as follows: "Well, Ms. Partridge, many students are intimidated by the thought of working by themselves. How do you measure that? How can you say Billy worked on his own less than Mariah? Do you really think it's fair to penalize a student who might be more reticent? How do you think this student feels about your class now that you gave him this grade?" (Added to note: This was an actual comment said to a teacher of my acquaintance.)
I can't speak for IT, nor am I speaking for all teachers, but many administrators with which I am familiar at first and second hand tend to side with the parents at all costs, and in effect, turn into the student's contract law expert, e.g., "Well, Ms. Bear, you said 'five sources,' but Billy here has used five sources. Of course, they're all from the same place, but you didn't say that the students had to use five different sources. No, it's pretty clear here that Billy did what you asked him to do."
No, I am not exaggerating.
Yes I know that admins can be very supportive of parents even when they are being unreasonable.
What does your administration say about the need to be so specific? I was never required to be that specific on a rubric.
They want the parents to be happy and the parents want a specific rubric. I'm told it's not fair to not tell the students, exactly, how I'm grading.
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