Is a rubric worth the time and effort? Conditions for its success

Abstract

A number of education scholars have developed rubrics for decades. However, do teachers (supposedly principle stakeholders) actually use rubrics at school in the way, and to the extent, that scholars expect? Through a focus group and two semi-structured interviews, this paper examines how Japanese university instructors use or do not use rubrics. This study is divided into three stages: 1) a pilot interview study with seven faculty members at the Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (NUCB), 2) a focus group with six faculty members at NUCB, and 3) further exploratory interview research with twelve faculty members at seven universities in the Tokai area. The findings show that many Japanese instructors did not know about rubrics, and even if they did, many did not use them. The current research suggests that rubrics could be instrumental in effective assessment tools only when meeting certain conditions: 1) instructors’ understanding of and engagement in using rubrics; 2) examining and understanding the contexts in which rubrics are used; and 3) placing political pressures on instructors to use rubrics at the institutional level.