Rubric Generator Tool
Background
Welcome to our Rubric Generator Tool. We’re happy you found us and are excited to share this resource with you. This tool was created by Dr. Sue Hines and Anna Landes Benz.
Special thanks go to: Alexandra Cheatham, Sonia Feder-Lewis, Rachel McGee, Val Upsher, Stacy Dean, Alex Urquhart, Adam Potthast, Jane Landes, Elizabeth Childs, and Janet Stewart.
What is the rubric generator tool?
We all know the value of scoring rubrics. Students and educators alike appreciate how rubrics can clarify assignment expectations and improve grading practices. However, creating a good scoring rubric takes time, skill, and effort. Therefore, we set forth on an 18-month project to develop an online rubric generator tool able to create scoring rubrics for typical course assignments used at the Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs at Saint Mary’s.
This rubric generator tool has 33 criteria to choose from along with performance descriptions that automatically populate the rubric. The descriptions reflect performance levels expected for A (outstanding), B (proficient), C (developing, and N/C (weak) level work. And if you don’t like the wording on the descriptions, you can edit it. The tool also automatically calculates the scores for each performance level based on the total points and weighting that you select.
How was it developed?
We compiled the student learning objectives from the course syllabi used during the 2019-2020 12-month academic year. We then extracted and reduced the learning tasks down to the 33 most common tasks. These become the criteria. Using our expertise as learning designers and relevant literature, we created the descriptions for each grade level aimed at the master’s level. A panel of experts then reviewed the criteria for each description which resulted in several revisions.
The final version of the rubric was created in an Excel spreadsheet. Formulas were created for auto-populating the scoring for each performance level based on the selected weighting of each criteria. The spreadsheet was devised with a second spreadsheet (second tab at the bottom) containing the performance descriptions to allow the user to edit, if desired.
Explore the Tool (video)
Watch this video for an overview of the tool and a demonstration of how to use it. Click the image below to play the video (it will open in a new tab).
Create a Rubric!
The rubric generator tool can be accessed through Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.
Google Sheets: Click on the image below to access the tool in Google Sheets. When the link opens it will require you to make a copy of the tool. Please refer to the instructions in the overview video to customize your own rubric.
Microsoft Excel: Click the image below to download a copy of the tool to your computer. This requires a licensed copy of Microsoft Excel to open and customize. Please refer to the instructions in the overview video to customize your own rubric.
Contact the authors
Authors of the Rubric Tool:
Dr. Sue Hines: shines@smumn.edu
Anna Landes Benz: abenz@smumn.edu
Open Source Policy:
Permission to use this tool is a non-proprietary, open-source tool, available from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
Usage Policy
Usage Policy:
Permission to use this tool is a non-proprietary, open-source tool, available from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
CC BY-NC: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
