Faculty Exchange/Diane Forsyth Discusses Using Rubrics

General Information Audience - All WSU instructors interested in using discussion boards in their courses. Interview Date - 11/2/2011 Tools Used - Rubrics Tool Meet the Faculty Member Dr. Diane Forsyth, WSU Professor of Nursing from our Graduate Nursing program on the Rochester campus. She has a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, Master of Science in Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, and Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Winona State College, Winona, MN If you would like to learn more about Dr. Forsyth you can visit her web page by clicking here. University Center Rochester (507) 280-5036 dforsyth@winona.edu Viewing the Interview Segments The full interview is divided into six segments. Select play to begin viewing Segment 1. To advance to another segments at any time by using the Next button.

Segment Descriptions Introduction Diane describes here the DNP program and introduces how they went about building a program rubric for online discussions. What are some of the challenges with using a discussion board and rubric specifically in your program and courses? Here Diane goes into detail about the process of building and improving the rubric for the program. Could you talk about how the process of setting up the expectations for student discussions and the way the rubric will be used to assess their work. Diane talks here about early preparations to establish basics discussion rule and netiquette for the process. Then she introduces the rubric and talks about how it will be used to assess their participation. Finally, students take a self-quiz to have them reflect on their own behavior within the assignment and detailed feedback is given to better align student understanding of the rubric criterion. Please talk about the process of evaluating assignments.WORKING Would you talk any recommend to other faculty you may have about the process of using the rubric in their classes. WORKING How did you go about building your rubric and what does D2L do to help you in your use of this in your courses? WORKING Good Practices Provide Opportunity To Discuss Assignment Expectations: This session is done to provide the students with a set of scholarly expectations for the assignment. This is done synchronously so questions can be explained to everyone. Self-Reflection Quiz: Forces the student to completely understand the rubric so that they can speak to the way they are meeting expectations on their discussion board posts. Rubric Provides Helpful Structure: A good rubric makes expectations much more transparent and measurable by both students and faculty. Key Outcomes Self-reflection quizzes allow student to better understand the rubric, reflect on their work, and better align efforts to meet program expectations. Student feedback has been vital in the refinement of the rubric to better communicate to future student expectations for the assignments. Related Articles Rubrics Articles How Do Rubrics Help? Great Resource from Cornell The Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (AALHE) web site dedicated to rubrics