Comment on Rubrics, Alternative Assessments and Learning Styles

Hi, Deborah, Rick, Sandra and classmates

In addition to the multiple intelligences I mentioned in the previous blog, I learned about alternative assessments and rubric creation. Alternative assessment is a way of monitoring students’ language progress and performance that is different from the conventional ways. Alternative assessment is, according to Charles R. Hancock, “an ongoing process involving the student and the teacher in making judgments about the student’s progress in language using non-conventional strategies.” On the other hand, the article “Creating a Rubric: Tutorial” defines the rubric as a tool designed by instructors to assess the students’ performances. It is specifically used for subjective assignments like writing, discussion, presentations…

These articles have helped me gain a deep insight into planning and assessing subjective assignments. In the past when I gave my students a writing assignment, I used the holistic approach to assessing their performances, which consists in giving a global grade for all the student’s performances. I did not know that for subjective assignments creating rubrics was important for assessing performances and tasks.

As a matter in fact, rubrics are very important in that they help the teacher assess in an objective way the subjective assignment. “Rubrics also show students how to meet the instructor’s expectations, i.e. what they need to do to be successful.” For example, next time I have to assess a piece of writing I will specify to the students the elements that will make a performance or task poor, average, or good. Now I will take into account the effect of context on performance and provide adequate contexts in which I will assess competence. In these contexts I will get the students involved in monitoring their own progress and performances. Both my students and I will be involved in the assessment progress. That will be possible because the students will have already been well acquainted with my expectations through the rubrics.

I realize that using rubrics and alternative assessments is a practical way of meeting students’ different learning styles.

Alternative Assessment and Second Language Study: What and Why? by Charles R. Hancock http://ww.cql.org/resources/digest/hancoc01/html

Creating a Rubric: Tutorial at http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/eta/Rubric_Tutorial/default.htm

Best wishes,

Bruno