DESIGNING RUBRICS for Online Courses

This week we have been reading about "QM" Quality Matters- for-profit entity that certifies online courses.  They have developed an 8 section rubric on necessary traits as a tool for assessing and ensuring the quality of online courses.  I came across this teacher's approach and liked the idea.  Not sure how it would work for an online course, but could lead to an interesting discussion among the students.  And, as an arts learning advocate," . . . the process is as important as the product!"
"A great idea to have a two-pronged approach to the rubric - Make your own rubric while you're planning the unit. Figure out what students need to demonstrate to master the objectives.

In class, explain the project. Place students in think-pair-share groups to discuss what criteria they would use to judge the project. Ask for a volunteer to take notes for the class on the whiteboard and take criteria suggestions from the crowd. Circle those items that have more than one vote. Underline those that you have in your own rubric. Talk about the products and how each criterion will be evaluated. Show the class your rubric and add suggestions from the class's discussion.

 By having this pre-work discussion, students can show their creativity on the front end of the project. They have a say in what distinguishes a successful project from one that doesn't meet expectations. The students have ownership and have begun the thought process that will lead to the project development. This isn't a waste of class time; it's think time.


Best of all, when you receive the students' projects, you'll have a rubric to guide you. You won't be surprised with a clay sculpture when you expected a lab write up. And you'll be assured that your lesson's objectives, the students' work, and everyone's expectations all line up."