All Turnitin rubrics use a common grid format, with marking criteria down the left hand side (as rows) and a scale across the top (as columns).

Standard (percentage/weighted)

This rubric is displayed as a "percentage" symbol in the Rubric Manager, indicating that criteria are weighted by a certain percentage. There are also grading scales displayed horizontally across the top of the grid. Each criteria and scale includes a cell to add descriptive text to both "criteria" fields and "scales" fields.

While it is possible to give varying weights to a criteria, all scales within your rubric will have the same value. The column with the highest value must equal the grade for the assignment i.e. if the assignment grade is 30, the HD scale must equal 30.

When a standard rubric is attached to an assignment this type of rubric can be used to calculate and add the overall grade into to the grade field.

Custom (points based)

This Rubric is displayed as a "pencil" symbol in the Rubric Manager, allowing you to enter individual point values into each rubric cell. The space below each value allows you to add descriptive text that explains the meaning of that cell.

A custom rubric provides different points for scoring/grading. Marks are calculated based on your scale and cell selections.

When a custom rubric is attached to an assignment, this rubric will calculate and input the overall grade into the grade field. Individual rubric values can contain decimal points however the total points available will be rounded off to a whole number.

Qualitative (feedback only)

This rubric is displayed as "0" symbol, which means it is primarily used for providing descriptive information. As such if this rubric is attached to the assignment it will provide a guide for marking but does not calculate grades.

With a qualitative rubric, values are added at the top of the grid and descriptive text added into individual cells for both the criteria and the scales.

Grading forms are a good alternative to rubrics if you wish to mark within a range and wish to give feedback on the criteria in the form. A grading form allows you to create any number of criteria, however these criteria are marked individually and not according to a scale in the way a rubric is.

In a grading form, each criterion may have a name and a description, as well as a possible score (if desired):

When providing feedback on a grading form, you may provide a mark manually by typing a number in the Score section, as well as feedback on each criterion in the Comment section:

Using the Apply to Grade button in Feedback Studio, you can automatically calculate the total score of all criteria for the submission and insert the score into the Overall Grade field.

Rubrics can help assess how well a student has performed in a submitted assessment task across a range of competencies.

Before creating your rubric or grading form in Turnitin, review the learning outcomes of the unit and ensure that the assessment task you have designed provides adequate opportunity for students to demonstrate that they have satisfied the intended learning outcomes and embedded graduate attributes. You should also take the time to understand the types of rubrics available and decide which one is most suitable for your purposes.

• To allow students to view the marking criteria for an assignment before they submit their work.
• To standardise the marking process.
• To provide feedback for students.

Using a rubric vs. a grading form

Criterion referenced assessments allow you to identify that a student has achieved the learning outcomes for an assessment task and how well. The level or standard of how well students achieve the learning outcomes is set according to defined criteria.

The criteria can be set out in a grading form or rubric that communicates these standards and provides vital feedback to students regarding their performance.

	Rubric	Grading form
Format	Matrix	List
Standards based grading	Yes	Yes
Scale - standards of different levels of achievement within a criteria are specified	Yes	No
Marks	Can give preset marks according to level	Can give a mark up to a specified maximum

Understanding "criteria" and "standards"

It is important to have a clear understanding of the key terms in a rubric and what they mean. The rubric may already be developed and included in your unit outline and should include key elements such as:

• Criterion: the word "criterion" refers to a characteristic that can be judged, and should be linked to the learning outcomes of your unit.
• Standards: the word "standards" defines a level of achievement or attainment in a certain criterion . They are also often referred to as "scales".

Criteria and standards are intended to provide clear guidelines for students about what they need to demonstrate in order to achieve a particular level of attainment. They can also be used by lecturers to provide feedback and mark assignments.

Criteria should be:

• Relevant: linked to learning outcomes.
• Observable: describe what the student needs to demonstrate.
• Descriptive: linked to learning outcomes not assessment components.
• Distinctive: each criteria describes a separate aspect of the learning outcomes.

Using rubrics and grading forms effectively

To ensure rubrics work effectively they should link to:

• National discipline standards.
• Course learning outcomes and embedded graduate attributes.
• Unit learning outcomes and embedded graduate attributes.
• Assessment criteria.

Rubrics and grading forms are often used in conjunction with other feedback types. For more information, please see LEO Guides: How to mark and provide feedback in Turnitin. 

There are some other things about using rubrics and grading forms in Turnitin assignment activities that you should know.

They cannot be changed once submissions have been made

A rubric or grading form that you've attached to your assignment is locked as soon as a student makes a submission to the assignment activity. It is very important to ensure that your rubric is accurate before students are allowed to make assignment submissions.

While it is being used, you will be unable to edit it in the Rubric Manager. You may still duplicate a locked rubric or grading form.

Detaching them will remove all feedback

Though a rubric or grading form may be locked after students have made submissions (to update or replace it), you can still remove or change the rubric attached to the assignment in the activity settings. However, doing so will remove all grades and feedback for all students from Feedback Studio.

LEO will warn you if you try to replace or detach the rubric of an activity if there have been submissions made to the activity.

You cannot access rubrics created by other instructors

The rubrics and grading forms that you create in the Rubric Manager are solely yours. You cannot select another instructor's rubric from the list to attach to an activity (even one already attached to the activity you're editing) and other instructors cannot select yours. If you need to give another user access to your rubrics, please see LEO Guides: How to import, export and share rubrics.

Decimal points are rounded up to whole numbers

The Rubric Manager allows two decimals places when calculating the total marks for a rubric or grading form. It doesn't do any rounding until the grade is applied to the grade field in the Turnitin assignment.

At the point of applying the grade to the grade field the decimal point is converted to the whole number. A decimal or .5 or above is rounded up to the next nearest whole number. A decimal of .49 or below is rounded down.

When using a rubric that includes scoring, it will truncate the decimal rather than round it. However when applying it to the grade field in the Turnitin assignment it will round correctly to the whole number mark. Example in the rubric sore calculation it might be displaying 95.0; 95.03 or 95.09., however in the grade field this will be displayed as the whole number 95.