Making and Using a Grading Guide

A grading guide exists as an option for grading within an assignment. Follow the steps below:

1) Create an assignment activity on your course site. When you are creating the assignment (or after the fact: grading methods can be changed so long as no grades have already been given),  choose "Grading Guide" from the Grading method option in the Grade menu of an assignment.

2) After you have saved this preference, you will be shown a screen to select your grading guide. Build a new grading guide by choosing "Define new grading form from scratch." Once you have existing grading guides, you can save them as templates to start from for future assignments.

Now you are ready to create a grading guide!

3) Give the grading guide a name and a description. This information will help instructors keep track of grading guide to be reused in the future. This description can be shared with students, but does not need to be.

4) Now, set the criterion descriptions for each area. The first blank criterion is provided. Click within a box to edit the description and maximum score. Use the "Add criterion" button to add another area to be assessed. The maximum scores for each area should add up to the desired total for the entire assignment.

5) After all criteria and point levels have been described, scroll to the bottom of the page. Here there are several options controlling how the grading guide will behave and what will be shown to students. It is also possible to add commonly used feedback to streamline the grading later. Adjust these options as necessary, and then click "Save grading guide and make it ready" to begin using it. If you are not able to finish the rubric in one sitting, you can save it as a draft and come back later.

The grading guide has now been saved and is available for use.

After creating a grading guide (see above), you can use that grading guide to assess students.

1) Enter the assignment that has a grading guide attached to it. Click the "Grade" button.

2) You'll be shown your grading guide in the grading view. Enter a score (and feedback if desired) within each criterion that aligns with the student's performance. By switching to the side-by-side pane, you can view a student's PDF submission at the same time as the grading guide.

3) Save your changes. You can always reset the grading guide if you need to start over. Continue for other submissions in the class.

Note on how scores are calculated with the grading guide: There are two ways to use the grading guide when considering the summative total that is entered into the gradebook. First, the total maximum score for the assignment can be entered as the highest possible score from all criteria in the grading guide. Then, GauchoSpace will display the summed total of the rubric. As another option, the maximum score for the assignment could be different from the possible points on the rubric (such as 100 where the grading guide only denotes 20 points). In this case, GauchoSpace will scale the score to match (so if the student earned 15 points out of 20 on the rubric, but the assignment is worth a maximum of 100, GauchoSpace will scale it up x5 and input a score of 75). 

After a grading guide has been created and saved, it can be used for other assignments on the course site. This is useful in courses where several assignments might use the same grading guide throughout the quarter, such as a weekly reading response or lab reports. Use these steps:

1) Enter the assignment that has the rubric already assigned to it. In the Administration block for the assignment, click "Advanced Grading". You will be taken to a new screen.

2) You will see an overview of the grading guide. Use the button labeled "Publish the form as a new template." Confirm on the next screen. The grading guide will now be an option in other assignments.

3) On the template page, click the checkbox next to "include my own forms", type your form name, and click search. Note: that the search bar will return rubrics that have any of the terms you have provided so you may still need to scroll down to find yours.

If you would like to use this same rubric in a different class, you must import an assignment that uses the rubric from your previous class to the new class. You can do this by following the steps below:

1. Go to the NEW course where you want the materials to appear.
2. In the "Administration" Block click Import.
3. Select the radio button next to the course you would like to import or search for it if it is not on the page. Note: The search function is very sensitive. If you are not finding your course by searching with the course number, try using the course title.
4. Click Continue.
5. Uncheck all materials that you do NOT wish to import. Leave just the assignment of interest checked. 
6. Click Next at the bottom of the page.
7. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Next.
8. Once again, click Perform import at the bottom of the page (Import: confirmation and review, should be at the top of the page).
9. Scroll to the bottom of the page and it should say Import complete! Continue to your course -- Click Continue.
10. The assignment (and rubric) from the old course should now appear in your new course and you can edit as you please.