[Rubrics] Editing Rubrics Linked to Multiple Assignments

[mcordes1]

Problem statement:

In order to edit a rubric attached to multiple assignments, you have to delink the rubric to achieve a 1-to-1 ratio between the assignment and rubric. Then, you can edit the rubric. Once you have completed your edits, you have to relink the rubric to all assignments. In addition, you have to edit the rubric for each assignment to ensure you select all the settings like "use for assignment grading" are checked.

Proposed solution:

Enable rubrics attached to multiple assignments to be edited without having to delink these rubrics. All of our discussions use the same rubric and all our courses utilize discussions. Because of the number of assignments (and discussions) that share the same rubric, utilizing the ability to edit regardless of the 1-to-1 ratio would save loads of time and hassle.

User role(s):

admin,instructor,ta,designer

[KristinL]

Hi @mcordes1 -

This sounds interesting, but I'd like to ask a few clarifying questions.

With this, are you hoping to create a bank of content that you can pull from to build these rubrics, or do you need almost like a "template" that is then customized without creating a copy? Also, with the 1:1 you mention, does that imply that each discussion needs a modified rubric? (Thank you for taking the time to answer these as there may be existing Idea Conversations we can connect this thread to. Alternatively, it will make this thread more clear for Community Members.)

As we wait for a reply with further information, we’re placing your request in Moderation for two weeks. Please respond by October 5 so we can provide your idea with the attention it deserves. If you are unable to reply by then, we’ll Archive the thread to allow the Community Team to focus on newer requests. 

[mcordes1]

Good morning @KristinL. Thank you for always commenting, merging, and asking great questions about my ideas. I truly appreciate your support on these items. 

I'm not sure I quite understand your first question; however, I have already created a template rubric for our institution that gets copied into our master shells. Faculty can adjust these templates with their content and point values. (The faculty know how to delete extra rubrics or link rubrics from one assignment in the course to another assignment.)

What I am talking about are assignments that share the exact same rubric in the same course. In the above example, I am talking specifically about all discussions in my 1 course using the same rubric; however, in my course, I have 4 Biblical Critique Assignments - think Journal Critiques but with biblical conflicts - where students are assigned different passages to read from the Bible and then, they create an assignment. Each of these Biblical Critiques uses the same Biblical Critique Grading Rubric. So the ratio is 4-to-1 (4 assignments to 1 grading rubric.)

If I want to adjust anything on that rubric, I have to delink Biblical Critique #4, #3, and #2 from the Biblical Critique Grading Rubric to achieve the 1-to-1 ratio (1 assignment to 1 grading rubric) in order to edit this rubric. Then, after editing, I have to go back into Biblical Critique #2, #3, and #4 assignments to relink the Biblical Critique Grading Rubric to the assignment. Furthermore, I have to edit each assignment's rubric settings in order to select "Use for assignment grading".

In both of these examples (Discussion and Biblical Critique) I would want to use the updated grading rubric for all subsequent assignments in the course. The only way to do this is to delink, edit, relink, and edit the assignment settings of the rubric. In my course alone I have 3 shared rubrics across multiple assignments, so you can imagine how much work it is to make even a small punctuation change on a rubric for me.

At a minimum, our institution has at least 2 assignments that use the same rubric (2-to-1). This means we have thousands of assignments that could potentially need a small edit that turns into quite a project due to the requirement of reducing rubrics to a 1-to-1 ratio before editing.

Does that help? 

[KristinL]

Hi @mcordes1 -

Sorry for the delay in the correspondence. 🙂

I follow! It sounds like a lot of clicking, for sure.

I am wondering if something like rubric bank would help you accomplish what you'd like. You could include criteria in a "bank" and then add them to the rubrics you build for individual discussions. It would be a huge time-saver and allow you to focus on specific skills each time.

Alternatively, I do understand what you're saying -- even having a choice on "edit this rubric?" or "make version #x that only applies to this activity?" could be a timesaver for instructors and designers.

[mcordes1]

I'm not sure about the rubric bank idea. I think I would need that fleshed out more; however, the ability to edit the rubric and save it across all assignments that use that rubric in the course would be HUGE! 

[KristinL]

Hi @mcordes1 -

Thank you for your collaboration! It sounds like this is a unique request. 🙂

[mcordes1]

@KristinL - I don't think it's a unique request. I think many institutions share one rubric in a course that would prefer to be able to edit the rubric while still attached to all the assignments that rubric is used for grading without having to use Commons or Outcomes. This seems like an essential feature that other LMSs have, and Canvas does not. 

[anne_lightbody]

I used to use the same rubric to grade 10 different lab reports. If I noticed a small mistake on the rubric (for example, a misspelled word), or if I decided at the beginning of a new term to change the weighting of different categories on the rubric, then I needed to unlink 9 of the rubrics, make the change, and relink. This is tedious. Being able to edit the rubric directly would be very helpful.

I can imagine that there are worries about allowing instructors to change a rubric in the middle of the term, after they've already used the rubric to grade assignments. In that case, perhaps there could be a pop-up window (similar to the one that pops up when changing a quiz question) asking whether the instructor would like to re-grade with the new rubric. 

[MelDew]

Yes! This would save so much time. If we have multiple assignments that use the same rubric but need an update due to a mistake or to make criteria clearer, you either have to make a copy and then add that rubric to all other assignments, or de-link the rubric, edit, and reattach. Being able to edit a single rubric that would push changes to all locations that it is attached would save time and clicks.

[Denham]

Problem statement:

There is no simple way to reuse a rubric within a course. My usecase is a course with discussion tasks which use the same rubric.

we can either:
1. Reuse the rubric but if you need to update it you have to unlink it from all but 1 then make the update, then relink to all of them, BUT teaching staff will see the incorrect error message when attempting to update the settings on the rubric to say it's to be used for marking the error message "You can't edit this rubric, either because you don't have permission or it's being used in more than one place. Any changes you make will result in a new rubric based on the old rubric. Continue anyway?" (note that checking the "Use this rubric for assignment marking" option does NOT cause a duplication of the rubric)
2. Duplicate the rubric Which isn't as straight forward as you'd hope, because there isn't a duplicate button in the rubrics area, you have to either go through the share with yourself, or course copy process. Also means if you need to make an update, you have to update in all the duplicates which increases the risk of introducing inconsistencies within the course. Neither of these provide a good workflow.

Proposed solution:

Allow for reusing a rubric within the course where you can update the rubric and have the change apply to all assessment tasks it's assigned to (simple 'this update will apply to all of the following assessment tasks:' message would be appropriate) Add a duplication option link in Pages etc to streamline the process for duplicating a rubric these two things would reduce workload time for maintaining rubrics in a course (especially in cases where there is a weekly graded discussion, where you will see the same rubric utilised ~10 times)

User role(s):

instructor,ta,designer

[jsailor]

Thanks for sharing this idea, @Denham. After reviewing, we've determined it best to add this idea to the theme of Improved rubric creation and usability.