Leonne's Rubric

Leonne's Rubric

by Leonne Beebe -
Number of replies: 4

Since most of my students have been out of school for various reasons and/or not successful in math in high school, the concept of an adult, multi-level, individually-paced classroom is new. During the first classes I introduce students to the expected behaviour needed for participating in this type of learning community, so they can become independent, respectful, self-directed learners. We discuss the four factors (social, emotional, physical and intellectual) and the three Ms (mindset, mindfulness and metacognition) that will affect their learning process.  With my rubric, I wanted to reinforce the expected classroom behaviour along with effective study/learning behaviours, so I defined these factors with 10 describers.. I also wanted to  use my rubric to introduce and have students participate in a beginner math stats activity where they can see how word describers can be changed into number describers, which can be changed into a percent score and then into a letter grade score similar to their progress charts and course letter grade. I chose 10 describers with 3 sets of scores (5-6, 7-8, 9-10) because the scores totals will result in their percent total, which can be converted to a letter grade using the standard percent to letter grade scale used at UFV. 

After reviewing several rubrics on line for study skills rubrics, I decided to design my own analytical rubric, which would directly reflect and reinforce my class content as well as be easily readable and recognizable by my students.  As they read the describers and reflect on their behaviour,  they would be learning the role of reflection/metacognition and self-assessment in  their own participation and learning process.  

I look forward to your feedback.

Out of confusion comes clarity,

Leonne

In reply to Leonne Beebe

Re: Leonne's Rubric

by Christina Page -

Hi Leonne,

I found this rubric really interesting, as I'm also supporting students who are developing their learning skills (once you're done, I'd love to have a finished copy :) )

I found this to be very well laid out, and I appreciated the way you put each item in very clear and concise terms.  I think this would really help students understand their progress towards meeting classroom expectations.

The one question I would have for you relates to linking placement on the rubric with letter grades. I'm wondering if this is connected to helping students adapt to an academic environment. My concern would be that students would label themselves with a "letter grade" early on, when these skills are still in the process of developing.  Would there be alternatives that would work equally well there?

I hadn't thought of using a study skills rubric before, and I'm excited about that idea after seeing yours.


In reply to Christina Page

Re: Leonne's Rubric

by Leonne Beebe -

Christina,

Thank you for you input and question. I will be happy to share this rubric with you and keep the conversation going about helping students develop and sell-assess their learning process and progress.

Interesting that you should ask about linking the rubric to letter grades. I thought a lot about this very question, too.  At first, I only asked the students to total their scores to see how they did. Then, I thought if I could show them how to calculate their percentages from a number score (fraction to a percent), they might be more interested in using the rubric in a math class; however, I didn't even think about putting in the letter grade table to begin with. Later, I thought it might be more math-useful to help students see the process of going from number score fractions to percentages to letter grades as this is what we end up doing with our course progress charts. Their tests are marked with number score fractions (15/20), which are converted to percents (75%) and all the test percentages are totaled, averaged and then converted to letter grades according to this table. These letter grades end up on their transcripts and are used to calculate their GPA.

My second thought was to use this rubric perhaps once a month to help students reflect and record their growth and progress with the four factors and the three Ms..It would also be interesting to use this rubric score to compare with their test scores that month to see if there is a relationship between any of the rubric's 10 points and their test results.  If so, these would be the areas the students would need to improve in to get better tests results, or these may be the areas, which help the students to get good marks on the tests. Maybe this could result in a possible learner-centered research project in the making - looking at the relationship between the four factors/three Ms and learning process and progress as reflected in the test scores.  

Out of confusion comes clarity.

Leonne

In reply to Leonne Beebe

Re: Leonne's Rubric

by Sylvia Riessner -

I can see Christina's point about the potential issue around students assigning themselves letter grades too early. However, I think if they are asked to apply the rubric regularly (you say monthly?) then they will have a bit of a continuum that might help them to see letter grades as an evaluation of where 'they were at' at a point in time rather than as a fixed label of performance or ability.

I think the hardest thing for some of my adult learners has been to move away from considering their learning as what can be measured by a grade, by a project, by my judgement. Your rubric, used over a period of time, could not only show them the value of the 3 Ms and the 4 factors, but also show them that their performance may fluctuate over time but that their overall learning and improvement will "make the grade." (so to speak ;-)

One question I had when I was reading your criteria for the Teamwork item:  how do you find they are in terms of recognizing their behaviours and how frequent they are? It seems to me that the students most in need of recognizing that they need improvement might be oblivious.

Do you respond to their self-assessment of the rubric if you feel they are not aware of some of their behaviours?

Thanks for sharing!

In reply to Sylvia Riessner

Re: Leonne's Rubric

by Leonne Beebe -

Sylvia,

Thanks for the thought-provoking questions, and I still have many in my mind also. I hope to have this rubric in place for our late term starting at the end of October, so this is still a  work in progress. I want  to reinforce and have students see the direct relationship between the four factors, the three Ms and their learning process/progress.  

In my thinking about using this rubric with my students: I used to have them write answers to guided reflection questions after each exam, which focused on how they felt about their results and their study process.  This worked well for those who liked to write, but for those who didn't like writing, reflections were ignored or poorly done. I think the easiness of filing out the rubric instead of writing would result in more involvement from the student. I would use their rubric along with their test results as the basis for a discussion with the student in terms of their success or lack of success, where they could improve or celebrate their improvement.  

All suggestions and questions are appreciated.

Out of confusion comes clarity. 

Leonne