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It is easily red, understood, and of great utility. I ordered this book (with my own money and a coupon) for all of the instructors in my department after purchasing one for myself last year. As a department head at a junior college, I try to insure that we give our students a good grounding in their academics as we prepare them for upper level coursework. This includes consistent and fair assessment.
Even so, this book still will be helpful for college-level instructors looking systematically incorporate rubrics into their classes. Regretfully, the authors of the book base many of their claims about the utility of rubrics (in particular, the idea that rubrics save time and that students should be involved in rubric instruction) on their own experience without referencing any other already-existing education research as support. This book provides a useful overview of rubrics and offers numerous examples of different types and styles of rubrics. Stevens and Levi write in a clear and straightforward style that busy educators will appreciate.
This book was a valuable tool in understanding the nuts and bolts of rubrics; how to write them, how to revise them,and the role they play in analyzing student work to inform instruction.
I highly recommend this to any instructor of college students, especially if they have shied away from using essay type exams because they have been afraid they could not reliably grade them. Perhaps most importantly, the authors explain why just about everybody can benefit from rubrics and how course design ultimately could be improved by making effective use of feedback from well-constructed rubrics. I had a basic understanding of grading rubrics before I began, but it wouldn't have mattered, as the authors provide such a clear explanation that I think even someone with no prior knowledge would grasp the concept almost immediately. The book is loaded with examples and a step-by-step walk-through of how to build effective rubrics.
The book is very accessible to get faculty over the hump to actually writing and using rubrics for themselves/their classes. At our college I purchased one copy, then 6 more, then 4 more, then 25 more. handed out to various faculty members along with workshops on rubrics.
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