Your institution controls which tools are available in the Original Course View. Rubrics are always available to instructors in the Ultra Course View.

Grade with a rubric

After you create a rubric and associate it with an item, you can use it for grading.

If you have multiple rubrics, you can select a rubric's title to begin grading. When you finish, you can begin grading with another associated rubric.

Access the gradable item in the Grade Center or on the Needs Grading page. In some cases, you can also start grading from the content item, such as a blog. Select View Rubric or the rubric's title to review or begin grading. If you view the rubric in a new window, you have two views: Grid View and List View.

  • In Grid View, select a cell to apply that value to the grade. For a point-range rubric, select a value from the menu. To change the selection, select another cell in the same row. Optionally, type feedback for the student in the box that appears when you select a cell.
  • Optionally, select List View to switch the display and select an option for each criterion to apply that value to the grade. Optionally, select the check boxes to Show Descriptions for criteria and to Show Feedback boxes.

In List View, if you don't select an option for a criterion and then type feedback, the feedback won't save when you save the rubric.

Grade an assignment with a rubric

Start grading in the Grade Center or on the Needs Grading page.

On the Grade Assignment page, you can view, comment on, and use a rubric to grade student-submitted assignment files.

  1. Expand the grading panel to access the rubric.
  2. Select the rubric title to expand it in the panel. Optionally, select the check boxes to Show Descriptions for criteria and to Show Feedback boxes. Or, select the View Rubric in Window icon to open the rubric in a separate window and grade from there.
  3. Select an achievement level. A running Raw Total score appears as you make point selections. Optionally, type a score in the Change the number of points box to override the selected score.
  4. Select Save Rubric to add the rubric score to the Attempt field.
  5. Optionally, type overall feedback for the student.
  6. Select Submit.

When you override the rubric grade in the Change the number of points box, an override message appears when you view the rubric from the student's Grade Details page.

More on the Grade Details page


Grade a test question with a rubric

You can grade Essay, Short Answer, and File Response test questions with a rubric. On the Test Canvas, questions that you've associated with a rubric appear with the rubric icon next to the points box.

When you grade student test submissions, select View Rubric to open the rubric in a new window.

Student view of a test question with a rubric

For questions with rubrics, students can select View Rubric and view the grading criteria before they answer.

Video: Grade Using a Rubric


Watch a video about grading with rubrics

The following narrated |video provides a visual and auditory representation of some of the information included on this page. For a detailed description of what is portrayed in the video, open the video on YouTube, navigate to More actions, and select Open transcript.


Video: Grade using a rubric explains shows how to access a rubric that's been associated with a graded discussion and use it for grading.


Run a rubric evaluation report

If you want to evaluate a rubric or your use of it, you can run a rubric evaluation report. After you use a rubric for grading, you can review the report. Statistics update as the grading process continues.

Control Panel > Course Tools > Rubrics

  1. Access the rubric's menu and select View Associated Content.
  2. If you've already graded an item, a menu appears next to the item's name on the View All Items page. Access an item's menu and select Rubric Evaluation Report.
  3. On the Run Reports page, select a Format, Start Date, and End Date.
  4. Select Submit.
  5. You can save the report to the Content Collection if you have access. Otherwise, select Download Report to view the report or Run a new Report to change format or date criteria. Select OK to return to the main Rubrics page.

The report consists of three sections:

  • Rubric Overall Performance shows the average total score of all attempts scored with the rubric.
  • Rubric Analysis shows average scores, compared against the possible points, for each criterion.
  • Frequency Distribution shows the distribution of scores across each level of achievement.