Project-based learning is an instructional method centered on the learner.
Authentic, performance-based learning is a great way to make learning
meaningful to students and to encourage them to be creative, innovative,
and constructive. Educators will find that the best way to assess students are by using rubrics. Most rubrics consist of objectives, performance characteristics,
and points or scores that indicate the degree to which the objectives
were met. Rubrics should be introduced to the students at
the very beginning of a project unit -- either present the rubric
to the class or collaborate with the students to structure the
rubric.
Rubrics allow students to understand the criteria for assessment
before they start the project. Rubrics also help to make the evaluation
of the project more objective and consistent by listing the criteria, or what counts, and describing levels of quality from excellent to poor.
I have found a great site to help teachers with designing rubrics. This website is RubiStar. This is a free tool to help teachers create quality rubrics. RubiStar is a tool to help the teacher who wants to use rubrics, but does not have time to develop them from scratch. RubiStar provides generic rubrics that can simply be printed and used for many typical projects and research assignments. These generic rubrics can also be customized to fit your specific needs and saved online. Once you have used the rubric for your classroom project, you will be able to analyze the performance of your whole class, and insure that the
subject was clearly understood. If you are not already using rubrics, you may want to start using Rubistar.
subject was clearly understood. If you are not already using rubrics, you may want to start using Rubistar.
Monique,
ReplyDeleteI looooove Rubistar ad have used it since I've been teaching. As a middle school teacher I face the challenge of making studsents responsible and accountable for their learning. Creating rubrics is a great way to teach these habits of mind. It makes the students feel like they have an input in the grades they receive. It also ensures that they know your expectations for projects. In my opinion Project Based Learning is the most effective approach that addresses different learning styles and cultivates higher order thinking skills in students. Rubistar was a great resource and I continue to share it with educators everywhere.