Rubrics: Formatting Guidelines for TA39

Rubrics are essential for effective grading, giving you a structured way to assess student work based on specific criteria. The clearer your rubric, the more objective and fairer the assessment becomes. In TA39, rubrics play an even bigger role as they directly guide the AI’s grading and feedback process.

It might not always be obvious, but the way you format your rubric can make a big difference in how well the AI understands and applies it. Let’s dive into why rubric formatting is important in TA39 and look at some best practices to help you set up rubrics that work better with AI.

Why Rubric Formatting Matters

When you create a rubric for TA39, you’re not just setting criteria for your students — you’re also providing instructions to the AI. The AI requires clear, structured guidance to interpret the rubric correctly. If your rubric isn’t formatted properly, the AI may misinterpret the criteria, leading to grading inconsistencies.

The AI processes rubrics by recognizing a structured hierarchy, often marked by symbols like asterisks (*) or dashes (-), along with careful attention to spacing and indentation. If these formatting details aren’t clear, the AI might misunderstand the weight or importance of certain criteria, leading to unexpected grading outcomes.

Rubric Formatting in TA39

Use Symbols to Create a Clear Hierarchy

Why it matters: 

A typical AI engine behind TA39 uses symbols like asterisks (*) and dashes (-) to understand the structure or hierarchy of statements in your rubric. These symbols help the AI figure out which criteria are main points, and which are sub-points.

Best practice: 

Use asterisks or dashes to organize your rubric into clear sections. For example, a single asterisk can represent a main criterion, while a double asterisk can break down sub-criteria.

Use the Rubric Converter Utility

Why it matters: 

Formatting errors, such as extra spaces or misaligned tabs, can confuse the AI—much like they would confuse someone unfamiliar with your rubric when reading a text file. TA39’s Rubric Converter Utility helps by automatically correcting these issues, making sure the AI can interpret your rubric accurately.

Best practice: 

Before finalizing your rubric—especially when setting up a new one—always run it through the Rubric Converter Utility. This tool checks and adjusts your formatting to ensure the AI reads your rubric correctly.

Keep Rubric Criteria Clear and Specific

Why it matters: 

Clear and specific criteria help both students and the AI understand what you’re grading. If your criteria are vague or unclear, the AI might struggle to apply them correctly.

Best practice: 

Write criteria that are concise and measurable. Avoid vague language and aim for clarity.

Example: 

Instead of saying “Argument is strong,” use “Thesis statement is clearly stated and supported by three distinct arguments.” This way, the AI can more accurately assess the work.

Make Sure Your Rubric and Feedback Template Are Aligned

Why it matters: 

TA39 uses both your rubric and feedback template to generate accurate and personalized feedback. If these two elements are not aligned, it can lead to confusion or unexpected behavior. For example, if the rubric focuses on one type of evaluation (such as qualitative ratings), but the feedback template requires another (such as numerical scoring), the AI might not interpret the criteria as you intended.

Best practice: 

Make sure that your feedback template reflects the refers to structure and principles of the rubric. This way, the AI can give meaningful feedback based on the structure you’ve set in the Feedback Template you’ve selected.

Example: 

If your rubric uses qualitative ratings like “Meeting Expectations” or “Exceeding Expectations” without numerical scores, but your feedback template instructs the AI to print numeric scores for each criterion and give a total score at the end, this can lead to unexpected outcomes. To avoid this, ensure both the rubric and feedback template follow the same qualitative format.

Save and Reuse Your Rubrics

Why it matters: 

Once you’ve set up a good rubric, save it! This will save you time when grading future assignments and ensure consistency across different tasks.

Best practice: 

Use TA39’s feature to save rubrics and feedback templates for future use. This will build your library of rubrics that you can easily modify for different assignments.

Switch Between Rubrics and Templates Before Processing

Why it matters: 

Sometimes, you may want to test different rubrics or feedback templates on the same assignment. TA39 allows you to switch rubrics and templates before running the processing, giving you the flexibility to experiment or adjust grading criteria.

Best Practice: 

Before running an assignment, choose your desired rubric and feedback template from the dropdown menus. You can switch between different combinations to match your grading goals. You can re-run the same assignment within minutes to see how the assessment or feedback changes with different combinations. After all, the point is to rapidly re-run the entire assessment of the class until you’re satisfied. Once you’re ready, that’s when you send the feedback to students!

Example: 

If you’re grading a theme essay, you might start with a feedback template that generates grades along with feedback, and then switch to one that suppresses the grade if you only want to give feedback for now without grading the students yet. Or you might switch to a more rigorous rubric (like AP-level) to see how students perform when the criteria for assessing their writing are changed.

Track Your Assignments Using Unique IDs

Why it matters: 

It’s easy to lose track of which rubric or feedback template you used for a specific assignment. TA39 assigns a unique ID to each assignment, helping you stay organized.

Best Practice: 

Check the unique ID assigned to each assignment in your TA39 panel. When you download summary reports, the rubric and feedback template used will be clearly visible, making it easy to track what you’ve applied.

Example: 

Let’s say you want to compare the overall feedback across students between two runs, each using a different rubric or feedback template. When you download the respective summary reports, you can easily keep them for your records or compare them side by side. Each document clearly references the specific rubrics and templates used, which can also be helpful if you need to share these details with a colleague to demonstrate how you conducted a particular class assessment.

Key Takeaways for Rubric Formatting

– Use asterisks and dashes to create a clear hierarchy of grading criteria.

– Run your rubric through the Rubric Converter Utility to clean up any formatting errors.

– Write criteria that are specific and clear to make grading more accurate.

– Make sure your rubrics and feedback templates align for consistent feedback.

– Save rubrics so you can reuse them for future assignments.

– Switch between rubrics and templates before processing to match your grading needs.

By following these best practices, you’ll ensure that your rubrics are optimized for the TA39 to interpret and apply more deterministically.