The Trouble with Rubrics and Google Docs Cloud Assignments

ProfessorBeyrer
Community Coach
Community Coach
3
1304

Almost exactly three years ago  @brueckert ‌ proposed the idea https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/4160-lti-external-tools-ability-to-add-rubric" modifiedtitle=".... I am getting ready to use a Google Docs cloud assignment in a class next semester and discovered some unsettling things about rubrics. A search within the Canvas Community led to this idea. My response was long enough and I expect my colleagues to ask me about this, so I decided to blog about the experience and what the workarounds might be.

In the embedded video I demonstrate the following:

  • Adding a rubric to a Google Docs cloud assignment 
  • Showing that the rubric is not visible on the same page as the assignment
  • Showing why it's not a good idea to copy and paste the rubric into the instructions of the assignment
    (no, I did not do a screenshot -- not exactly universal design even with alt text)
  • Showing how students can find the rubric if they can access the assignment instructions
  • Showing how students can find the rubric if they cannot access the assignment instructions
    (yes, it depends on whether the assignment is published but unavailable)

All of this likely applies equally to any External Tool assignment type. Until it gets fixed, students will be justified in feeling like their instructors don't want them to see the expectations for assignments before submission.

3 Comments
bogardde
Community Participant

Yes! This lack of easy access to rubrics is one of many issues that are severely undermining our efforts to get our teachers to use Cloud Assignments.

 @ProfessorBeyrer   Another aspect of this rubric problem is one that a teacher in our district just had today. He had attached a rubric to a Cloud assignment but forgot at the time to check the "Use this rubric for assignment grading" checkbox. He realized his mistake after students had submitted assignments and he went into speedgrader to grade them. Now there is no way to go back and edit the rubric settings, so he is stuck with a plug-and-chug task of manually adding up and entering scores in his gradebook.

Hildi_Pardo
Community Champion

Thank you so much for this!   And yes, I really do hope Canvas improves this.

Meanwhile, I'm wondering about the copying and pasting of the Rubric into the Assignment instructions -- perhaps the format can be improved by selecting the copied rubric/table and editing the Table Properties so that the borders show.    That said, I might only do that for smaller, less extensive rubrics....  

Chris_Hofer
Community Coach
Community Coach

@ProfessorBeyrer ...

Have you seen the recent June 21, 2023 Deploy Notes?  I think there's some welcome news in there that's related to the first part of your blog posting.  😃

Canvas Deploy Notes (2023-06-21) - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)