Use a Rubric with a Quiz

Currently, rubrics cannot be directly added when creating a quiz in Brightspace. However, rubrics can be associated with a grade item for a quiz in the Grade Book and graded separately. With this workaround, the grade item is not connected to the quiz, and the instructor needs to manually enter grades into the gradebook for those quizzes since they won’t be linked to the quiz.

If your quiz has multiple types of questions (auto-graded and non-auto-graded) and you would like to use a rubric for written responses, you have two options:

  • Option 1: Create a single quiz for all questions and account for all the questions within the rubric. With this option, any multiple-choice or true/false questions would not be auto-graded.
  • Option 2: Create two separate quizzes, one for auto-graded questions and one for rubric-graded questions.

Instructions to Set Up Rubrics for Quizzes

Option 1: Single Quiz
  1. Create the quiz as usual or follow the steps outlined by D2L and mark the grading option as ‘Not in Grade Book.’
  2. Follow the instructions for creating rubrics outlined here <link rubrics guide> and incorporate rubric criteria for all quiz questions.
  3. Create a grade item for the quiz in the grade book by clicking on ‘My Grades’ on the course homepage*.
  1. On the My Grades screen, click ‘Manage Grades,’ click the blue ‘New’ button, and select ‘Item’ from the drop-down menu.
  2. Confirm the correct rubric is attached, then click ‘Save and Close.’
  1. Select ‘Numeric’ as the Grade Item Type.
  1. Fill in grade item details and click the grey ‘Add Rubric’ button to add the quiz rubric.
  1. On the Select Rubric pop-up, select the quiz rubric to use, then click ‘Add Selected.’
  1. The rubric will be attached to the grade item. Review the grade item settings to ensure everything is accurate, then click ‘Save and Close.’
  1. You will be redirected to your grade book with the new grade item reflected.
  1. To evaluate the quiz, navigate to your grade book and click on ‘Enter Grades.’ Find the quiz grade item, click the drop-down arrow next to the quiz name, and click ‘Enter Grades.’
  1. On the Enter Grades screen, click the Assessment icon for the student you wish to evaluate.
  1. On the rubric pop-up, click the drop-down arrow next to the rubric name, select the student’s scores, and then click ‘Publish.’ Note: Since the rubric is not attached to the quiz, you must open the student’s quiz in a separate window to view it.
  1. The student’s quiz score will be reflected in the Grade Book. Note: The release of quiz grades to students upon selecting ‘Publish’ is instant. If you’re not ready to release grades, please select ‘Save Draft.’
Option 2: Separate quizzes for auto-graded and rubric-graded questions
  1. Create the first quiz with all auto-graded questions and link it to the grade book. Steps for creating a quiz are outlined here <link to helpsite instructions>
  2. Create the second quiz with all rubric-graded questions and mark the grading option as ‘Not in Grade Book.’ Steps for creating a quiz are outlined here <link to helpsite instructions>
  3. Follow the instructions for creating rubrics outlined here <link rubrics guide> and outline all rubric criteria for the rubric-graded quiz.
  4. Create a grade item for the rubric-graded quiz in the grade book by clicking on ‘My Grades’ on the course homepage*.
  1. On the My Grades screen, click ‘Manage Grades,’ click the blue ‘New’ button, and select ‘Item’ from the drop-down menu.
  1. Select ‘Numeric’ as the Grade Item Type.
  1. Fill in grade item details and click the grey ‘Add Rubric’ button to add the quiz rubric.
  1. On the Select Rubric pop-up, select the quiz rubric, then click ‘Add Selected.’
  1. The rubric will be attached to the grade item. Review the remaining grade item settings to ensure everything is accurate, then click ‘Save and Close.’
  1. You will be redirected to your Grade Book with the new grade item reflected.
  1. To evaluate the rubric-graded quiz, navigate to the gradebook, and click ‘Enter Grades.’ Find the quiz grade item, click the drop-down arrow next to the quiz name, and click ‘Enter Grades.’
  1. On the Enter Grades screen, click the Assessment icon for the student you wish to evaluate.
  1. On the rubric pop-up, click the drop-down arrow next to the rubric name, select the student’s scores, and then click ‘Publish.’ Notes: Students will see the auto-graded quiz score instantly before the rubric graded quiz grades are available. Since the rubric is not attached to the quiz, you must open the student’s quiz in a separate window to view it. The release of quiz grades to students upon selecting ‘Publish’ is instant. If you’re not ready to release grades, please select ‘Save Draft.’
  1. The student’s quiz score will be reflected in the gradebook.
  1. In the Gradebook, you will have two separate grade items, one for the quiz with auto-graded questions and one for the quiz with rubric-graded questions. If needed, these scores can be combined into one total quiz score by creating a calculated grade item. On the My Grades screen, click ‘Manage Grades,’ then click the blue ‘New’ button and select ‘Item’ from the drop-down menu.
  1. Select ‘Calculated’ as the Grade Item Type.
  1. Fill in the grade item details as needed, select the two quizzes you wish to combine, and then click ‘Save and Close.’
  1. A new column will now show in your gradebook with the total quiz score. Please note: the calculated total column is not included in the final grade, only the initial two quiz grades are included.

*These instructions are based on the USC standard NavBar. Some schools have customized NavBars. If you don’t see Course Tools in your NavBar, go to course admin to find it.