Overview
You can create a rubric in WISEflow at any time, without needing to have an assessment (flow) set up first. The rubric will need to be published and then attached to a flow in order to be used by markers. Rubrics are created via the Authoring role:
Editable rubrics.
Published rubrics, which can be shared with other (staff) users and attached to flows for markers to use.
The content bank, which can store different elements of rubrics to be used in future rubric creation.
Import and export WISEflow rubrics.
Create a new rubric.
Which kind of rubric should I use?
There are two types of rubric in WISEflow: standard and custom rubrics. The comparison table below may help you decide which is the best fit for your assessment:
Standard Rubric | Custom Rubric |
|---|---|
Simple and quick to set up | More complex and can take more time to set up (but can be sped up using templates) |
Does not support zero weighted criteria | Can support zero weighted criteria |
Can enable optional audio and/ or written feedback for each criteria | If audio and/ or written feedback is enabled, this is compulsory to complete |
Does not support decimal values | Can support decimal values |
Can only calculate a rough, overall grade (which can be edited afterwards) | Can offer more granular, precise grading (which can be edited afterwards) |
Can only set up a grid layout | Can be created from a variety of different question types, more versatile/ flexible appearance |
Good for creating analytic rubrics | Can be used for creating analytic and holistic rubrics |
Tip: Still need help deciding which type of rubric is right for you? Contact the Digital Assessment Team at assessment-advisory@ucl.ac.uk or book a drop-in session with us.
Creating a Standard Rubric
In the rubrics area of the Authoring role, click +New Rubric.
Enter a title for your rubric, optionally add a description and/ or tags. Click Next, then select Standard rubric and click Create.
You will now be returned to the rubrics area where the editable shell of your standard rubric is visible. Click +Add rubric matrix and select +New.
This opens the matrix editor. Criteria can be seen in rows and ratings are in the column headers. Click Adjust matrix (1) to add more criteria and ratings (2) or remove them (3) as needed.
Add titles to your criteria and ratings headers (max. 100 characters).
Adjust the score for each of your ratings using the input fields underneath the rating headers.
Note: Decimal values are not supported in standard rubric scoring and the value for each rating is fixed (i.e. in this example “Fair” gives a base score of 60 and “Good” gives 70, however you cannot pick an inbetween value of 61, 62, 63, etc.).
Standard rubrics will only be able to calculate a rough overall grade for a submission; however the overall calculated grade can be overwritten with a more specific or decimal value if required.
Adjust the weightings for each of your criterion using the input fields underneath the weighting column.
Important: Weightings must add up to a total of 100%. Zero weighted (0%) criteria are not supported in standard rubrics.
Add descriptions for each criterion and rating (performance descriptors) in the appropriate cells (max. 1300 characters).
Tip: if you have the same or similar descriptors for a given rating across every criteria, you can use the lightning bolt button underneath each rating header to add this to all cells:
Enable audio and/ or written feedback on your standard rubric by selecting these options from the Text and Audio columns. Cells will turn light blue when feedback is enabled.
You can enable a space for audio or written feedback per criterion or add this only to the last criterion to have a single space for feedback at the end of the rubric. In the example above, text feedback is enabled for the first criterion and audio feedback is enabled for the second.
Tip: You can click on the Text and/ or Audio column headers to quickly enable or disable these feedback options for all criteria.
Click Save in the lower right corner of the matrix editor to finish. You will see the shell of your standard rubric, which now contains the matrix you have built:
Next Steps
After creating your standard rubric, you have the following options:
Preview your rubric as it would appear to a marker. (Note that this does not include calculation and entry of the overall grade)
Edit the title, description and tags of your rubric
Create a copy of your rubric
Add a grade scaler. See Adding a Grade Scaler to your rubric for more information.
Delete the entire rubric
You can also:
Edit the rubric matrix
Add the rubric matrix to your content bank. 
Delete the rubric matrix (but keep the shell of the rubric)
Once you are satisfied with your rubric, you will need to publish it so that it can be attached to a flow (assessment) and used for marking. See Publishing and sharing your rubric for more information.
Creating a Custom Rubric
In the rubrics area of the Authoring role, click +New Rubric.
Enter a title for your rubric, optionally add a description and/ or tags. Click Next, then select Custom rubric and click Create.
You will now be returned to the rubrics area where the editable shell of your custom rubric is visible. Click +Add an item and select +With custom question.
This brings up the Question editor, which contains all the same question types you would normally use to create a FLOWmulti exam.
Which question(s) you choose to use in your custom rubric will depend on your criteria and how you’d like to format and design your rubric. The table below provides several options which may be useful but is not an exhaustive list:
Category | Question type | Example uses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Multiple choice | Block UI | Select a level of performance for criteria, provide generic feedback | This could be a simple yes/no response or include a link to an external resource |
Written and recorded | Audio recorder | Provide audio feedback | |
Written and recorded | Essay | Provide written feedback | |
Fill in the blanks | Fill in text with drop-down | Select a score or a generic comment from a drop-down field | If being used for scoring, this question type will likely require the use of alternative answers |
Highlight | Highlight text | Create a zero weighted grid of criteria and ratings/ performance levels | It’s recommended that you edit the tokens (define highlightable content) after adding all your text. If replacing existing text, pasting as plain text (CTRL+SHIFT+V) will preserve highlightable tokens. |
Other | Range scoring | Select a score |
Tip: using rubric template questions can take a lot of the work out of building a custom rubric from scratch. See Rubric templates for more information.
Select a question to create. In this example, a range scoring question has been used. The rubric criterion and description should be entered in the question text field and the maximum score for the question has been defined.
Depending on which question type you select, you may have more complex scoring options or choose to set it as a practice or unscored question. Click Create question to finish.
You will now see an item (page) containing your created question inside your custom rubric. The scoring of the question is visible at several points: next to the question (1), on the item header (2) and on the rubric header (3).
Continue to add questions to your custom rubric as needed either by clicking +Add content to the item to add new questions to your existing item (page) or clicking +Add an item to create a new item and question. In most cases, it is preferable to keep all of your rubric questions in a single item. You can also use the dark grey tabs at the end of each question to drag and reorder them in the rubric.
The total number of questions in your rubric and the maximum achievable score can be seen underneath the rubric header.
Tip: You can also add text blocks without any scoring to an existing item by clicking +Add content to the item > Add text. This can be a useful way to denote different sections of the rubric on the same page (e.g. if the rubric is marking an exam that is separated into Part A and Part B), to provide additional instructions to markers or additional information to students (e.g. a reminder that grades are provisional until confirmed at a board).
Next Steps
After creating your custom rubric, you have the following options:
- Preview your rubric as it would appear to a marker. (Note that this does not include calculation and entry of the overall grade)
- Edit the title, description and tags of your rubric
- Create a copy of your rubric
- Add a grade scaler. See Adding a Grade Scaler to your rubric for more information.
- Delete the entire rubric
You can also:
Preview or edit a question, along with options to copy it, convert it to a new item (page), or delete it- Add an item/ questions to your content bank
- Delete the rubric matrix (but keep the shell of the rubric)
Once you are satisfied with your rubric, you will need to publish it so that it can be attached to a flow (assessment) and used for marking. See Publishing and sharing your rubric for more information.
Adding a Grade Scaler to your rubric
Building a grade scaler into your rubric before publishing it is optional but helps save time for the administrative teams that attach your rubrics to flows (assessments).
In your editable rubrics area, click the grade scaler button.
Select the appropriate grading scale (Pass/ Fail, Percentage or (A-F) letter grades). Pass/Fail and A-F formats have sliders that can be dragged and adjusted or have a numeric value entered into their input fields.
The Percentage option does not require adjustment.
For all options, click Save grade scaler to finish.
The grade scaler button will update with a number, indicating how many types of grading scale are accommodated.
Important: Making changes to a rubric after you have added a grade scaler will delete the grade scaler data (this does not impact existing published versions). It’s easy to just add a grade scaler to your editable rubric again afterwards, but aiming to make all necessary edits beforehand and adding a grade scaler as the final step before publishing will save time.
Publishing and sharing your rubric
Publishing a rubric
In your editable rubric, click Publish.
You will be shown a preview of your rubric as it would appear to markers. You can also preview any grade scaling on a separate tab.
At the bottom of the preview page, click Approve.
After a few seconds, a published version of your rubric will be available in the Published rubrics area. (Note: you may need to refresh the page to view this)
Sharing a rubric
Changing sharing settings on a rubric
By default, published rubrics are private and only visible to their creator.
Click on the sharing settings for a published rubric you have created and then click Search for author.
Search for the user you want to share with and tick the box next to their details in the search results. You can repeat this step to search for and select multiple users before you share the rubric.
Click Share with selected to finish.
The published rubric will now be available to the selected users in their published rubrics area.
You can continue to add or remove people from the shared list of users by repeating these steps.
Sharing rubrics via a reference code (with Managers only)
All published rubrics have a unique 8 digit reference code.
You can click on this code to copy it to your clipboard. Rubric reference codes can be provided to users with Manager access, who can attach it to a flow even if the rubric has not been shared with them in WISEflow.
Editing a published rubric
It is not possible to edit a published rubric. However, you can always make changes to the editable copy of your rubric and publish a new version.
Tip: making use of tags or consistent naming conventions can make it easier to keep track of the latest versions of your rubrics.
If you are not the owner of the rubric but it has been shared with you, you can still make an editable copy. See Copying an existing published rubric for more information.
Using rubric templates or copying an existing published rubric
Rubric templates
Create a standard or custom rubric as normal
Copying an existing published rubric
In the Published rubrics area, find the rubric you want to copy. Click the burger button on the right and select Make a copy to edit from the list of actions.
You will now have an editable copy of this rubric in your editable rubrics area.
Deleting a published rubric
You cannot delete a published rubric if it has been attached to a flow for marking. If the rubric was only published recently and has not been used yet, it may be possible for a Manager to remove the rubric from the flow first - the original creator of the rubric can then delete it via the Authoring role.
If it is not possible to remove the published rubric from any flow(s) it was attached to (e.g. because marking is underway or has already finished), these alternatives may be helpful:
Click the sharing settings of the rubric and select Remove sharing from all so that it is private and other users can no longer access or attach it.
Click the burger button on the rubric and select the option to Hide it.
The rubric will initially be greyed out but will no longer display in your list of published rubrics when the webpage is refreshed. Hidden rubrics can be shown again by clicking the filtering button and selecting the Hidden option.
A hidden rubric can be made to display in your published rubrics list again by clicking the burger button and selecting the Show option.