Rubrics: Create, Add, Copy and Evaluate

1. From your course homepage*, click ‘Course Tools’ in the nav bar, then click ‘Course Admin.’

2. Once on the Course Administration page, click ‘Rubrics.’

3. Once on the Rubrics page, click ‘New Rubric.’

4. Enter the Name of the Rubric in the Name field.

5. Click the ‘Type’ dropdown to select the rubric type.
   • Analytic: Provides you the ability to add multiple criteria within a rubric. Each criterion can be scored with a level (e.g., Level 1: Basic Skills, Level 2: Intermediate Skills, Level 3: Advanced Skills). You can include feedback for each criterion level, allowing you to make very specific comments.
   • Holistic: Provides a single criterion within a rubric. You can also assess holistic rubrics using percent scores set for each rubric level. Just like with analytic rubrics, you can define levels to score that criterion.

6. Click the ‘Scoring’ dropdown to select the scoring method for the rubric.
   • No Score: Indicates that no point values are set. Performance levels are instead indicated by text. For example, three performance levels for a rubric can be Poor, Good, and Excellent. This scoring method is available for analytic and holistic rubrics.
   • Points: This scoring method is only available for analytic rubrics. Performance levels are indicated by points. For example, Level 1 (1 point), Level 2 (2 points), Level 3 (3 points), and Level 4 (4 points). Note: Results in each rubric level have the same score for each criterion.
   • Custom Points: This scoring method is only available for analytic rubrics. You can customize the points given for each criterion giving them different weights. For example, the criterion Spelling and Grammar can be out of 20 points, while expression can be out of 60 points.
   • Percentage: This scoring method is only available for holistic rubrics (not pictured below). Percentage-scored rubrics can be automatically assessed based on the score of its associated item, for example, a Grade item.

7. Enter your Criteria in the criteria fields. If additional fields are needed, click ‘Add Criterion.’

8. Enter your achievement level titles and corresponding points. If additional levels are needed, click the ‘plus sign’ on either side of the rubric.

9. Add descriptions of each criteria level and enter Initial Feedback.

10. Additional Criteria Group(s) can be added by clicking ‘Add Criteria Group.’ This is helpful when you wish to evaluate elements of a student’s work separately, e.g. clarity and cohesiveness, strength of arguments, etc. Follow the steps above to complete the new group.

11. A criteria group can be copied or deleted by clicking the three dots under the main criteria field and selecting the action.

12. Scroll to the bottom to confirm the overall points and enter overall feedback.

13. Click the ‘Options’ dropdown at the bottom of the page to customize your rubric settings.
    • Rubric Visibility: You can choose how visible your rubric is to learners by selecting either:
      • Rubric is visible to students
      • Rubric is hidden from students
      • Rubric is hidden from students until feedback is published.
    • Score Visibility: The Rubric tool allows you to Hide the rubric scores from learners.
    • Description: Add a description for your reference. It will not be shared with students.

14. Before you complete your rubric, scroll to the top and click the arrow next to Edit Rubric to preview your rubric. You can also update the rubric status to Published, Archived, or Drafted by clicking the ‘Status’ dropdown.

15. Once you are done, click ‘Close’ at the bottom of the screen.

16. Your new rubric will now appear on your Rubrics page.

Note: A rubric must be published before it can be attached to an assignment.

1. On the course homepage*, click ‘Activities’ in the nav bar, then click ‘Assignments.’

2. On the Assignments page, click the arrow next to the assignment title. Then click ‘Edit Assignment.’

3. On the Manage Assignments page, click the Evaluation & Feedback dropdown arrow, then click ‘Add Rubric’ and ‘Add Existing.’ Note: If you wish to create a new rubric while editing the assignment instead of adding an existing rubric, select ‘Create New’ and follow the steps outlined in the Create a Rubric section above.

4. On the Add Existing Rubric popup, select the rubric you wish to attach, then click ‘Add Selected.’

5. Confirm the correct rubric is attached, then click ‘Save and Close.’

Note: A rubric must be published before it can be attached to an assignment or discussion.

1. On the course homepage*, click ‘Activities’ in the nav bar, then click ‘Discussions.’

2. On the Discussions page, click the arrow next to the discussion title. Then click ‘Edit Topic.’

3. On the Manage Discussions page, click the Evaluation & Feedback dropdown arrow, then click ‘Add Rubric’ and ‘Add Existing.’ Note: If you wish to create a new rubric while editing the assignment instead of adding an existing rubric, select ‘Create New’ and follow the steps outlined in the Create a Rubric section above.

4. On the Add Existing Rubric popup, select the rubric you wish to attach, then click ‘Add Selected.’

5. Confirm the correct rubric is attached, then click ‘Save and Close.’

A rubric can be added to quiz questions when creating a new quiz or editing an existing one. Note: Only long answer written response questions can have separate rubrics. To enable this functionality, you must turn on the new quiz experience.

1. On the course homepage, click Activities in the nav bar, then click Quizzes.

2. Find the quiz to which you want to add a rubric, click the dropdown arrow next to it, and select Edit from the menu. Refer to the Create a Quiz guide if you are creating a new quiz.

3. Click on the Add Rubric button below a long answer written response question. Afterward click on Create New to make a new rubric or Add Existing if the rubric was created previously.

4. Repeat step 3 for each long answer written response that needs a separate rubric.

5. Note: To allow students to see the rubric while taking the quiz, the rubric must be set to Rubric is Visible to Students. This setting is chosen when creating a rubric.

1. On the course homepage*, click on ‘Activities’ in the navbar, then click ‘Assignments.’

2. On the Assignments page, select the assignment to be evaluated.

3. On the assignment page, click ‘Submissions’ and then click the student submission you wish to evaluate.

4. Click the drop-down arrow to open the rubric and begin the evaluation. Click the box on the slider that corresponds to the desired score. You may also do point ranges by manually entering a score, including a partial score, within the criteria points field.

5. Once all criteria are scored, scroll to the bottom, review or edit the Overall Score, and enter Overall Feedback in the box. Below the Overall Feedback box, you also have the option to upload a file, link to an existing activity, provide a weblink, or provide audio or video feedback. Once you are finished, click ‘Publish’ or ‘Update.’ Depending on how you’ve set the visibility options for students, they can see the rubric, feedback, and points/percentages by going to the Assignment and clicking on ‘Feedback: Read/Unread.’

1. On the course homepage*, click ‘Discussions’ in the navbar, then click ‘Discussions.’

2. On the Discussions page, click the arrow next to the discussion item for evaluation, then click ‘Assess Topic.’

3. On the Assess Topic page, click ‘Topic Score’ for the student you wish to evaluate.

4. Click the drop-down arrow to open the rubric and begin the evaluation. Click the box on the slider that corresponds to the desired score. You may also manually enter a score, including a partial score, within the criteria points field.

5. Once all criteria are scored, scroll to the bottom, review, or edit the Overall Score, and enter Overall Feedback in the box. Below the Overall Feedback box, you also have the option to upload a file, link to an existing activity, provide a weblink, or provide audio or video feedback. Once you are finished, click ‘Publish’ or ‘Update.’ Depending on how you’ve set the visibility options for students, they can see the rubric, feedback, and points/percentages by going to the Discussion Topic and clicking on “Feedback: Read/Unread.”

1. Navigate to the quiz that needs to be graded.

2. On the quiz evaluation screen, click Written Response [Rubric Name].

3. Select the appropriate score for each criterion.

4. The score is automatically updated based on the score(s) selected in step 3.

1. In the course Navbar click on Course Tools, then click Course Admin.

2. From the Course Administration page click on Rubrics.

3. Once on the Rubrics page click the drop-down arrow next to the rubric you wish to copy, then click Copy.

4. A copy of the rubric is now available.

1. In the Navbar of the course that will house the copied rubric click on Course Tools, then click Course Admin.

2. From the Course Administration page click on Import/Export/Copy Components.

3. On the Import/Export/Copy Page, ensure Copy Components from another Org Unit is selected, then click Search for offering.

4. Once the search screen pops up, click Search. Once the available courses appear, select the one with the rubric you wish to copy, then click Add Selected.

5. The selected course will now appear under Course to Copy. Click Select Components.

6. Scroll down to Rubrics and check the box, then select either Copy all items or Select individual items to copy. Click Continue.

7. Confirm Components to Copy and offset or update any due dates. Select Finish.

8. On the next screen, a confirmation will appear once the rubric(s) are copied.

Yes, assignments can have multiple rubrics attached. However, only one can be used as the grading rubric. This is the rubric that will be tied to the grade in the gradebook. When creating or editing the assignment, you can specify a default for which rubric should be used as the grading rubric. You also have the option to change/choose which rubric will be used as the grading rubric when evaluating the assignment. However, once grades are published you cannot change the rubric used.

Points and Custom Points Rubrics are flexible in their grading weights and criteria. When grading, click on any of the points associated with the criteria to adjust point weights and give partial scores as needed. Additional details are provided in the “Evaluate Assignments Using a Rubric” and “Evaluate Discussions Using a Rubric” step-by-step guides above; or, Watch this quick tutorial.

Yes! If certain criteria on a rubric hold more weight than others, use a custom points rubric to weight criteria differently. For example, take a quiz essay that awards points for timely completion and content. The professor decides that content is worth more than timely completion, so they allocate 90% of points towards content and the final 10% towards timely completion. Within the rubric criteria, an instructor will make the content criteria category X out of 90 points and the timely completion content criteria X out of 10 points. Brightspace automatically calculates the quiz percentage when the rubric is graded.

Currently, rubrics can only be attached to long answer written response quiz questions. Otherwise, refer to Rubrics for Quizzes for a workaround.

Yes, you can copy a rubric for use within the same course and copy rubrics from one course to another. Step-by-step how-to guides for both processes are available above.