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5440 WrittenAssignment-3 Playing To The Rubric

The document discusses the impact of rubrics on learners' creativity and problem-solving abilities in educational settings. It argues that while rubrics can provide structure, they may also restrict creative thinking if not designed with flexibility in mind. The author suggests a balanced approach that includes both structured and open-ended assessments to foster creativity and critical thinking among students.

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2 views5 pages

5440 WrittenAssignment-3 Playing To The Rubric

The document discusses the impact of rubrics on learners' creativity and problem-solving abilities in educational settings. It argues that while rubrics can provide structure, they may also restrict creative thinking if not designed with flexibility in mind. The author suggests a balanced approach that includes both structured and open-ended assessments to foster creativity and critical thinking among students.

Uploaded by

Vidyashankar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Written Assignment Unit 3

Playing to the rubric: perspectives

Dr Joshua Fritts

University of the People

5440 - 01-Assessment and Evaluation

Date: 12th February 2023

1
Playing to the rubric: a realistic perspective

I will look at this write-up on restricting learners’ problem-solving, decision making and creativity

in the context of class assignments. The first question to ask ourselves as educators is if we are

indeed hampering learners’ creativity and innovative thinking skills by imposing a rubric. The

degree of this depends on absolute adherence. Rubrics, as created by the teacher should definitely

involve an aspect of creativity. However, creativity is an open-ended term and therefore the rubric

should allow for flexibility while checking for this aspect in the submissions of learners.

I now touch upon hampering creativity by educators. The mode of education particularly the board

comes into play in either enhancing creativity or curbing it. Let me cite a very specific example:

The International Baccalaureate or the IB in short encourages creativity by allowing learners to pick

their subjects and design their Internal Assessments and independent thought. If a student has come

up with an original idea, then certainly there is scope for evaluation in a different metric. The

IGCSE Board encourages the application of thought and critical thinking. However, I feel the state

boards could definitely improve on this primarily because there is little scope for creativity and

more on rote learning of concepts. This certainly would prove detrimental in the long run.

If one is aware of the rubric, it’s possible that in the quest for scoring marks and getting a good

grade, learners will write to the test just as teachers design to the test. This is a sure way that the

higher mental cognitive functions are aligning themselves to the rubric in a subconscious kind of

way and this has the potential to curb inherent creativity. On the other hand, if presented with an

open problem, the teacher allows the student some kind of exploratory thinking then there is the

possibility of a neural stretch. New ideas could be generated. Problem-solving ability and decision-

making abilities which would be required for governance and economic productivity could be

enhanced. So where should educators draw the line? One possible approach would be to separate

the two kinds of questions. One in which smart decision-making is required to score optimally like

multiple choice questions, short answers etc and the other with open-ended questions which
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specifically test for creative approaches. A weighted average of the two could then be taken, scaled

and the final score calculated. The teacher should also have the right attitude of not always playing

to a rubric but sometimes just sit down and reflect on what the student has actually written and

encourage the student to undertake higher pursuits. It is indeed true that analysis, synthesis and

evaluation elements is a different intellectual endeavour than catering a product to a rubric. While

efforts could certainly be made in the mainstream to incorporate these elements to better the

problem-solving ability and the decision-making capacity of young learners, there is certainly no

reason to believe that learners cannot take this endeavour on their own without approval from some

formal authority. These attributes would prove to be handy when the learner seeks employment after

the completion of his or her formal education. ( Chapman, V., & Inman, D. (2009))

Creativity, Flexibility and Individual Initiative: A personal perspective in the classroom

At the outset, testing for creativity is a herculean task because by its very nature, at least in the

natural sciences no one can actually predict what an idea can actually achieve. How it can impact

other areas, influence other areas and be the precursor for new bodies of knowledge. The least we

can do as educators is to accept that sometimes we don’t understand and in fact allow in full

blossom germination of ideas. This I have done by trying to trigger innovation by introducing

alternative ways of solving the same problem, offering multiple perspectives on some issues of

common interest and in general encouraging learners to voice their thoughts. In my summative

assessments, I do make it a point to include structured questions in such a way that each sub-part is

connected to the next part allowing learners to make these connections as they solve problems. In

some cases, I have come away surprised at their creativity and innovation. Sometimes, they may

even have made a Venn diagram in a different way and therein lies the effort. I usually take such

snapshots and discuss this flexibility or alternate ways of approach. I would ask them to explain

their underlying thought process and I would offer my perspective. They could differ but in the end,

that’s what learning and open-mindedness are all about. For individual initiative, I usually would
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ask learners to do some offbeat assignments or produce a write-up. Sometimes, learners have to be

coaxed from their shells, and this is one possible way of achieving that objective.

In my rubrics, I do have an allowance for alternative approaches and in fact, encourage this to the

best extent possible. I find that it is in the summative assessments that I really get to view creativity,

speed, accuracy, problem-solving and decision-making ability in my learner’s answer sheets all in a

good mixture of form. For example, I had recently set a hard question paper whereby I had

combined two different math concepts like number theory, and properties of triangles like the

application of Pythagoras’ theorem. Some of the learners showed initiative in tackling this problem,

some provided alternate arguments that were present in my rubric and I definitely considered that in

a joint aspect of creativity and flexibility, which I consider as going hand in hand. The two are

synonymous and often juxtaposed. ( Csikszentmihalyi, M., 1996 )

Going by the notion that the past guides the future and as a fledgling educator in mathematics and

the natural sciences, in my formal endeavours, I have had opportunities to creatively construct my

rubrics wherein I take into account the expressiveness, the presentation, the creativity and potential

of the student, particularly in the summative assessments. I have to admit, however, that the

formative assessments are a different ball game because of time constraints and the format. In a

way, it is more of an intellectual warm up something by which learners can whet their appetite for

solving interesting problems.

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References

Chapman, V., & Inman, D. (2009). A conundrum: rubrics or creativity/metacognitive

development? Educational Horizons. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ849020.pdf

Cropley, A. J. (2001) Creativity in Education & Learning: A Guide for Teachers and Educators

Routledge

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996) Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention New

York, HarperCollins

Glover, J. A., Ronnine, R. R., and Reynolds, C. R. Eds (1989). Handbook of Creativity. New York:

Plenum Press

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