Using rubrics and exemplars to develop students’ evaluative and productive knowledge and skill

ABSTRACT

While it is argued that use of rubrics and exemplars has the potential to develop students’ ability to distinguish quality, make evaluative judgments and take productive action, few studies have directly investigated the latter. To address this gap the current study employed classroom observations, eight focus groups interviews with 18 students and the collection of teaching-learning artefacts to investigate how two teacher educators and their students used rubrics and exemplars. Data analysis yielded two themes. The first theme spoke to a series of inter-connected supports deliberately set in place to foster and utilize students’ evaluative and productive knowledge and skill. The second theme highlighted ways in which students compared understandings from in-class experiences with exemplars and rubrics to works-in-progress, bringing the latter closer to the expected standard of achievement. These findings provide an authentic picture of student engagement with rubrics and exemplars and offer insights into ways in which they applied evaluative and productive knowledge and skills to works-in-progress. It was concluded that the ways in which these tools were used not only supported development of students’ evaluative and productive knowledge and skill, they played a key role in stimulating task related self-monitoring and self-regulation.

KEYWORDS:

• Exemplars
• rubrics
• student self-monitoring
• studentself-regulation
• evaluative and productive knowledge and skill

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. FN refers to Field Note; EProf the course; 43 the page number of the Field Note.

2. Ellen is the student’s pseudonym; Int refers to focus group interview; 4 to the transcript page number.

3. Donovan and Bransford’s principle of developing meta-cognitive thinking processes is used to reflect on personal teaching practice with insight and understanding (Artefacts, E305).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the North Shore Teachers College Trust.

Notes on contributors

Eleanor Hawe

Eleanor Hawe is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work. Her teaching and research focus in the main on assessment for learning in particular, goal setting, feedback (including peer feedback), the use of exemplars and the development of students’ evaluative and productive expertise across a range of educational contexts and teaching subjects.

Helen Dixon

Helen Dixon is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work. Her teaching and research interests are focused on all aspects of assessment for learning both within the schooling sectors and in higher education. She also has a particular interest in teacher beliefs, including their efficacy beliefs, and how these influence assessment practice.

Jill Murray

Jill Murray is a Professional Teaching Fellow at the Faulty of Education and Social Work where she currently co-directs the Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Primary programme. Her teaching practice is driven by a strong commitment to promoting student understanding and success, is based upon a deep and extensive knowledge base and is characterised by her expertise in promoting student engagement and learning through the power of modelling.

Sandra Chandler

Sandra Chandler is a Professional Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Education and Social Work where she currently co-directs the Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Primary programme. She is an experienced tertiary educator who has, over the past 18 years, contributed to and led the development of initial teacher education programmes. Sandra’s teaching is grounded in and informed by an experiential approach to learning that aims to develop self-regulatory and efficacious learners.