[Rubrics] Negative mark
When students submit their assignments, there are certain basic expectations such as with respect to citations, formatting, and structure, etc. Ideally, one likes to award marks only for positive/performance criteria, i.e., those related to the subject-matter. Unfortunately, when the rubric allows only positive marks, usually, hygiene criteria such as structure, presentation, and referencing are either created as afterthought criteria with a small percent (5-10) of the mark or omitted from the rubric altogether. However, neither solution makes sense: Even 5-10 percent mark should not be awarded for something that is a basic requirement in all courses and not something that is being taught or tested in the specific disciplinary course. At the same time, this severely limits the penalties for even the most grievous failures to meet the basic requirements. Similarly, omitting these from the rubric and mentally deducting marks for the hygiene criteria is not transparent and therefore not fair to the students.
@mark_hulme made a compelling case for negative marking in quizzes and Instructure implemented it https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Ideas/Negative-Marking-for-Quizzes/idi-p/303552. I think a similar solution is warranted here. Instructure implemented a negative marking for late submissions feature in response to @seth's https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Ideas/Deduct-X-or-X-points-per-day-for-each-day-an-assignm... and/or @anita_webb's ideas https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Idea-Conversations/Rubric-option-to-subtract-points-for-late-work.... But this solution is too specific to late submissions. I believe a solution that allows the rubric to award negative marks for not meeting basic expectations, i.e., hygiene criteria, e.g., m points less per n% over the word limit, or x points less for the wrong citation style, y points less for each instance in which the source does not say what the citation claims, etc., would be the right one in this instance. This enables complete transparency (and fairness) to students, while also ensuring that a positive grade is given for subject knowledge and performance criteria, while there are penalties for not meeting the basic requirements - and such penalties can be substantial.
instructor
