Running Head: FIELD EXPERIENCE RUBRIC

Week Three Assignment

Field Experience: Create & Use a Rubric

Nermin H. Fialkowski

National University

AAL- 654 Quality Assessment for Student Learning

Doctor Lisa M. Sparaco

February 19th, 2019

FIELD EXPERIENCE RUBRIC 2

Part I

Rubric

1 2 3 4 5
Title Presentation
includes a
title.
Rules Student lists Student lists
an incomplete the complete
set of rules for set of rules for
the game. the game.

Strategy Student Student Student Student Student

attempted to attempted to included a includes a includes a
include a include a strategy. Two complete and complete and
strategy. All strategy. One of the three accurate accurate
components of of the three components of strategy. strategy.
the strategy: a- components of the strategy: a- Contains all Contains all
going the strategy: a- going components of components of
first/second, b- going first/second, b- strategy: a- strategy: a-
first move, c- first/second, b- first move, c- going going
moves needed first move, c- moves needed first/second, b- first/second, b-
throughout the moves needed throughout the first move, c- first move, c-
game, are throughout the game, is moves needed moves needed
incorrect game, is correct based throughout the throughout the
based on the correct based on the game game. game. Strategy
game rules. on the game rules. is coherent
rules. and easy to
follow.
Reader can
win the game
by following
the strategy.
Diagram Diagram is Diagram Diagram
related to identifies any identifies
game title. winning/losing winning/losing
Shows no positions of positions of
connection to the game. the game.
rules or Diagram
strategy of the demonstrates
game. the rules and
Diagram is strategy of
strictly game played
decorative. throughout.
Justification Student Student Student Student Student
attempted a attempted a includes a includes a includes a
justification. justification. justification. complete, complete,
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Reiterates the Student makes Two of the coherent and coherent and
strategy, as the an attempt to three accurate accurate
justification. explain WHY components of justification. justification.
the strategy the Contains all Contains all
works. justification: components of components of
a- base case, justification: a- justification:
b- rules of base case, b- a- base case,
game, c- rules of game, b- rules of
winning/losing c- game, c-
positions, is winning/losing winning/losing
correct based positions. positions.
on the game Used the rules Justification
rules. Used of the game to supports the
the rules of the support WHY WHY the
game to the strategy strategy
support WHY works. works-
the strategy produces a
works. guaranteed
win.

Part II

Implementation

Half way through the Games Unit in my Discrete Mathematics course, students created a

presentation about four different Games. Students submitted their final product to me and was

graded based upon the criteria listed above. All students described the same four games. Title

and rules of the Game were given. Students created either a PowerPoint Presentation or a typed-

up document. Note: all Games are two-player.

Games

• 25 Flags: The game starts with 25 Flags. On each player’s turn they can take 1, 2, 3, 4, or

5 flags. The player who takes the last flag loses.

• 97 Flags: The game starts with 97 flags. On each player’s turn they can take 1, 3, 4, 5, 6,

7, 8, or 9 flags. The player that takes the last flag wins.

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• Two Piles: There are two piles of stones. One pile has 37 stones and other pile has 37

stones. On each player’s turn they can take as many stones as they want from a single

pile. The player that takes the last stone wins.

• Half-a-Checkerboard: Two players play the following game on a checkerboard. Four

dots placed on a m-rowed checkerboard, one in each of the first columns. (Dots may start

in any row, and do not need to start on the same row). On each player’s turn they must

move 1, 2, 3, or all 4 dots one square downward. The player who cannot make a move

loses.

What Worked Well

Although this rubric is task-specific, which it can only be applied during the Games Unit

of my course, it can be used for various Games with different rules and strategies. As listed

above, each Game, no matter what category, can be approached in the same matter. The

qualities of an advanced Strategy and Justification holds the same, no matter for what Game

category. This allowed students to support one another and critique their reasonings, in order to

help build an accurate Strategy that guarantees a win.

What worked well in using this rubric with my students is that they all knew what was

expected of them and the finished product. The descriptive levels of performance from the

rubric held students and their peers accountable for their work. Most importantly, the rubric

demonstrated the level of competence that is expected of each student. It not only reinforced all

the components of the project, but it described the quality work that was expected of students.

With these expectations, students were able to self-assess, and set goals towards mastery,

especially since they knew what mastery entails (Chappuis, Striggins, Chappuis, Arter, 2012).

Additionally, the rubric depicts a clear picture of what success looks like.
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Prior to using this rubric for this specific task, students were already creating Strategies and

Justifications for different Games. But students often fell short of a satisfactory Justification.

Their Justifications often excluded why the Strategy worked- what was it about the rules of the

Game that guaranteed the player to always win? I believe students had a difficult time creating

satisfactory Justification because they did not know what an advanced Justification entailed or

looked like. The descriptive levels of performance for the Justification criterion helped clarify

what an advanced Justification looks like. I anticipate student success of satisfactory

Justifications to improve as we work towards the rest of the Game Unit, as a result of this task.

What Needs Revision

One additional item that I would add to help support my students through this process, is

by providing them with models of strong and weak work. Providing students with models of

strong and weak work is a Strategy of Using Rubrics as Instructional Tools in the Classroom, as

well a Strategy of Assessment for Learning (Chappuis, Striggins, Chappuis, Arter, 2012). This

support works well for both categories since rubrics are used to assess student performance, in

the form of describing performance, not judging it (Brookhart, 2013), which is ultimately a form

of formative assessment.

I will continue to use this rubric with my students as we work through our entire Games

Unit, focusing on various Games with different rules and strategies. In doing so, I am able to

teach my students about focused revision and support them in their learning process. “Students

need to opportunity to practice using the scoring guide as a guide to revision. When they do this,

it is the students and not [the teacher] who are doing the thinking about and the work of revision;

this translates into deeper learning” (Chappuis, Striggins, Chappuis, Arter, 2012, p. 248). As a

continuous learning cycle in class I will focus on the criteria of Strategy, Diagram, and
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Justification. I will use the same complete rubric, as listed above, again but with the addition of

a new dimension. Instead of having students submit a finished product to me, they will also

present their final product.

For a class presentation and/or summative assessment I would add two additional criteria

for the rubric, Organization and Presentation. Organization would entail that students’

presentation is: neat, cohesive, easy to follow (organized), in order, and has a flow. The

presentation criteria would include that students: speak loudly and clearly, look at their audience

members, have minimal use of aids (i.e., note cards), and their preparedness.

To further support my rubric in having coherent sets of criteria and descriptive levels of

performance (Brookhart, 2013), I will add descriptive words to quantify the point system that I

use (i.e., 5 = Advanced, 4 = Proficient, 3 = Basic, 2 = Needs Development, 1 = Under

Developed). The addition of these descriptive words supports the use of a rubric in describing

performance, instead of judging it (Brookhart, 2013). Using words such as Advanced and

Proficient help students set goals, while guiding them towards mastery.

Impact of Student Learning

In terms of creating a finished product, students were able to demonstrate their learning

of the various Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP), by accurately and coherently

describing the Strategy and Justification of their Games. In order to arrive to a coherent and

accurate Strategy and Justification students first had to: SMP 1- Make sense of problems and

persevere in solving them; SMP 2- Reason abstractly and quantitatively; SMP 3- Construct

viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others; SMP 7- Look for and make use of

structure; SMP 8- Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning (Standards for

Mathematical Practice).
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The rubric itself was also a great feedback tool for students. The feedback presented to

students using the rubric was timely, specific, and understandable. Then through additional

comments, the feedback was able to become actionable for the students. It is these four qualities

that make feedback purposeful, valuable, and effective (Frey & Fisher, 2011). And when done

correctly, can solidify and propel student learning. “Effective rubrics show students how they

will know to what extent their performance passes muster on each criterion of importance, and if

used formatively, can also show students what their next steps should be to enhance the quality

of their performance” (Brookhart, 2013, p. 12).

Through the use of the rubric, students were able to identify and classify what makes a

strong and viable Justification, as well as having a clear description of the qualities of an

advanced Justification. Knowing what success looks like is imperative for student learning.

Student often have a difficult time identifying what success looks like, especially those students

with little experience. If students know what success looks like, they are more motivated to

work and improve towards that goal. Frey and Fisher identify this notion as “capable learners.”

Students must first believe that they can learn and achieve goals. Once students know what

success looks like, they are able to work towards it. This student competence is the first step in

motivation, which puts students on the path of learning. I anticipate student success of

satisfactory Justifications to improve as we work towards the rest of the Game Unit, as a result of

this task.

Resources

Brookhart, S.M., (2013). How to Create and Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment and

Grading. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.

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Chappuis, J., Striggins, R., Chappuis, S. & Arter, J. (2012). Classroom Assessment for Student

Learning: Doing it Right- Doing it Well (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Frey, N., & Fisher, D. (2011). The Formative Assessment Action Plan: Practice Steps to More

Successful Teaching and Learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision &

Curriculum Development.

Standards for Mathematical Practice. Common Core State Standards Initiative. Retrieved from:

http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Practice/