Source: https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-assessment-for-teachers-seneca-certified-assessor/3-1-2-rubrics-and-comparative-judgment

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# Rubrics & Comparative Judgment

CPD: Assessment for Teachers (by Dawn Cox), topic 3.1.2

## Rubrics

Rubrics use a set of criteria that determine the quality of an assessment. It is usually presented as a matrix.

### Rubrics

![Rubrics](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2019-05/9cc91bc3-7d66-4cba-a552-bac72dfef7eb/good-bad-.png)

- The criteria used in the rubrics are based performance descriptors for the topic and are often ranked with justifiers, such as ‘satisfactory’, ‘good’, ‘outstanding’.
- A study by Lipnivech et al (2014) showed that use of detailed rubrics can improve student writing.

### Advantages of rubrics

![Advantages of rubrics](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-09/b7a21024-bc04-4ffb-9258-f2ba3e756543/feedback-3584509_1920.jpg)

- They are quick to use with just ticks or highlighting.
- They are specific to a topic.
- If given before assessing, students can see the individual elements on which their assessment will be marked.

### Disadvantages of rubrics

![Disadvantages of rubrics](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-09/b7a21024-bc04-4ffb-9258-f2ba3e756543/feedback-3584509_1920.jpg)

- May present ambiguous language, such as ‘some’, ’clear’, ’coherent’.
- It takes time to create them for each topic.
- Cannot be collated into an overall grade.
- Comparison between pupils is complex.
- Do not allow for alternative approaches to a task.

## Comparative Judgment

Comparative judgment is when you juxtapose two pieces of work to compare which is better. It is a quick, holistic judgement without any use of criteria or rubric.

### Advantages

![Advantages](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/2018-11/7d7d420f-c6bc-446c-8ed4-bc1e556db9ec/hand-clap-applaud-.jpg)

- There are websites that use algorithms and do the analytics for you.
- Research shows it has a high level of reliability.
- It is effective for longer pieces of written work.
- It rank orders pupils’ work.
- It is more reliable than absolute judgments.

### Disadvantages

![Disadvantages](https://image-v2.cdn.app.senecalearning.com/courseImages/physics/1.1.1%20Measuring%20length,%20volume,%20etc.../paper-1849364_640-min.jpg)

- For validity, it needs a large amount of comparers.
- It does not give any specific feedback to students.
- It needs several pieces of the same work to be compared.

## Test yourself on Rubrics & Comparative Judgment

- What are the characteristics of comparative judgment?
- Which of these is NOT true about comparative judgments?

[Practise this topic for free](https://app.senecalearning.com/classroom/course/04e36b88-c9c6-47ac-8a4b-54b9ceeea532/section/58353d78-e202-4cda-82e8-a8150a8afe4a/session)

- Previous topic: [3.1.1 Research on Assessments](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-assessment-for-teachers-seneca-certified-assessor/3-1-1-research-on-assessments.md)
- Next topic: [3.1.3 MCQs & Self-Assessment](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-assessment-for-teachers-seneca-certified-assessor/3-1-3-mcqs-and-self-assessment.md)

## CPD: Assessment for Teachers (by Dawn Cox) contents

### 1 Introduction to Assessment
- 1.1 Definitions
  - [1.1.1 Validity & Reliability](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-assessment-for-teachers-seneca-certified-assessor/1-1-1-validity-and-reliability.md)
- 1.2 Types of Assessments
  - [1.2.1 Summative & Formative Assessments](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-assessment-for-teachers-seneca-certified-assessor/1-2-1-summative-and-formative-assessments.md)

### 2 Feedback
- 2.1 Feedback
  - [2.1.1 Feedback](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-assessment-for-teachers-seneca-certified-assessor/2-1-1-feedback.md)

### 3 Assessment Methods
- 3.1 Assessment Methods
  - [3.1.1 Research on Assessments](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-assessment-for-teachers-seneca-certified-assessor/3-1-1-research-on-assessments.md)
  - [3.1.2 Rubrics & Comparative Judgment](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-assessment-for-teachers-seneca-certified-assessor/3-1-2-rubrics-and-comparative-judgment.md)
  - [3.1.3 MCQs & Self-Assessment](https://senecalearning.com/en-gb/revision-notes/teacher-cpd/cpd-assessment-for-teachers-seneca-certified-assessor/3-1-3-mcqs-and-self-assessment.md)