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AI Rubric Generator

Blackboard's new rubric generator is part of the Blackboard Learn "AI Design Assistant," which is now featured in Ultra view. This guide shows how the design assistant can generate full assessment rubrics from an assignment description.To learn more about AI Design Assistant,  see the feature announcement from Blackboard. 

The rubric generator is only available in Ultra view courses. To access and explore the rubric generator in Ultra view, you can also use the Ultra Sandbox that is available for you in Blackboard original view. 

Rubrics can help align assessments with learning objectives and promote transparency, consistency, fairness and effective feedback in the grading process. Using Blackboard’s AI design assistant, you can generate rubrics based on your course content.  The generated rubric is 100% editable by the instructor.  Instructors are encouraged to review and refine the rubric content.


Accessing the Rubric Generator

You may want to experiment with the rubric generator in your Ultra Sandbox. This space is designed for you to make as many mistakes and discoveries as you increase your efficacy with the AI Design Assistant tool. The following presents a brief guide to access the tool when in Sandbox.  Ideally, you can create a mock module or use existing units for your experimentations.

Instructions:

1 - On your Course Content course view, select Gradebook at the top horizontal menu on the page

A screenshot showing the Gradebook tab on Ultra course view.


2 - Once you have clicked on Gradebook, select the Settings cog wheel at the top right-hand side of the page. Here, a vertical menu of items will appear (image 3), scroll all the way to the bottom of the menu. You will see the following: Assignment, Test, Discussion, Journal, Exam, Homework, Presentation and Quiz.


A screenshot that shows the Settings cog wheel on the Gradebook page.

3 - Below Course Rubrics (3) you will see the Create and Generate buttons. Select the Generate button. 









Other ways to access the rubric generator

Additionally, you can access the rubric generator from the discussion settings of a graded discussion.  You must select grade discussion in the settings panel to create/generate a rubric. Finally, the rubric generator can be accessed when you create an assignment or assessment.  The Add Grading Rubric tool is found in the additional tools section of the assignment or assessment settings panel.

A screenshot the shows the vertical menu leading to Course Rubric and the Generate button.                  



Defining the Rubric

Once you have accessed the "Generate Rubric" page, there are a couple of settings you can customize in order to generate a rubric for your assignment:

  1. Description: The rubric generator will take into consideration anything you have typed into the assignment's content, as well as the assignment title. However, the description is a great place to add any details that you would like taken into consideration that may not be mentioned in either of the aforementioned areas. This is also a great place to copy and paste the prompt that you can find here. 
  2. Rubric Type: Use the dropdown menu here to determine a grading system (points, percentage, etc.)
  3. Complexity: At this time, the "Complexity" feature doesn't seem to render consistent results. It does appear that higher complexity settings may offer wording within the rubric that is more complex but this does not always hold true. This feature is expected to become more useful as Blackboard continue to develop the AI Design Assistant software.
  4. Columns: Columns is often where the levels of performance will be listed (i.e. "Exceeds expectations," "Proficient," etc.). Adjust this according to your needs
  5. Rows: Rows is often where the individual criterion will be listed (i.e. "Organization," "Grammar & Mechanics," etc.). Adjust this according to your needs.

Recommended Description Prompt

If you know the criteria and levels of performance you'd like to use for your rubric but want to use the generator to save time, we recommend using the following prompt:

"This rubric is for an assignment that is to be graded based on [list criteria factors here which could include things such as organization, grammar and mechanics, text-based evidence, etc.]. The criteria should be listed as the first column. The levels of accomplishment on the rubric should be stated as [list wording here such as exemplary, proficient, developing, etc.]. Additionally, each criterion should have a maximum possible points of [insert number of points desired]."

If you wish for each category to have a different amount of possible points, edit the final sentence of your prompt to state: "Each of the criteria should have the following maximum amount of points: ..." and list them in order with a corresponding score.

Screenshot of the Generate Rubric page. The terms Description, Rubric Type, Complexity, Columns, and Rows are boxed in red on the left hand side of the screen. Numbers 1 through 5 are placed next to the boxes in respective order, corresponding with the numbers listed in documentation.

When you have finished customizing the settings, click the black "Generate" button. A generated rubric will appear to the right of the settings. Here, you can decide to modify any of the settings listed above to examine the changing outputs of the AI Design Assistant tool.                 


A screenshot that shows a generated rubric on the Generate Rubric page.

Editing Generated Rubric

In order to edit a generated rubric:

  1. Click the black "Continue" button (located in the bottom right hand corner) to take you to a confirmation page
  2. Click the black "Save" button
  3. Exit the Assignment settings
  4. Navigate to the Gradebook
  5. Open the Gradebook settings by clicking thesettingsicon to the right hand side of your screen
  6. When the side panel menu opens, scroll down to "Course Rubrics"
  7. Click to select the rubric you wish to edit
  8. Hover over the section of the rubric you wish to edit
  9. Click the pencilicon to edit the text field
  10. Click the black "Save" button in the lower right hand corner.

If you have already used a rubric to grade a student submission, you will not have the ability to edit the rubric. Be sure to double check all rubrics before making an assignment available to students. 

GIF showing the gradebook page in a Blackboard course. A cursor navigate to the gear icon on the right hand side of the screen and clicks. A sidebar menu appears on the right hand side of the screen. The cursor scrolls down in the menu and selects a Participation Rubric that is already created in the course. The rubric opens to a new page where the cursor hovers over a section of the rubric. When the cursor hovers, a pencil icon appears in the top right hand of the boxed area. The cursor clicks the pencil icon, making the text field editable. Once text is edited in the selected area, the cursor navigates to the lower right hand side of the page and clicks a black Save button.

Considerations

While the rubric creation is part of the AI Design Assistant, the rubric generator should be thought of as more of a tool than an assistant. Here are some considerations when using the rubric generator:

  • The rubric generator will work best when you have clearly defined parameters, expectations, and grading guidelines outlined in your assignment's content. If your assignment is vague, the rubric will be vague.
  • The generated rubric is not created based on any kind of theoretical framework (i.e. Bloom's Taxonomy, ADDIE, etc.). If this is something you want incorporated, you'll need to make edits to the basic rubric.
  • If you are not totally satisfied with the rubric that is generated, clicking the "Generate" button will produce different results each time, even when the settings are unchanged.

"Given the limitations of the rubric generator, why would I want to use this in place of other AI tools, such as ChatGPT?"

The AI software that is used to generate rubrics in Blackboard is certainly limited in some areas compared to other current AI tools on the market. However, the reason for the limitations can actually serve as one of its selling points, based on your goals and priorities. Blackboard's AI tools do not "learn" as they are used, like other AI tools. The information that the rubric generator uses is not stored and therefore is not used to generate future rubrics, therefore, protecting faculty's intellectual property developed and published in their courses.

"I have not regularly used rubrics in the past but would like to moving forward. Can this tool still help me?"

Absolutely! While we find that the best way to get a useable rubric is by using the prompt provided in "Defining the Rubric," the AI tool is also helpful in generating ideas for the criterion and levels of performance you can use for your assignment. We recommend doing this by thoughtfully and thoroughly creating your assignment first, and then clicking the "Generate" button on the rubric generator to see the suggested categories that Blackboard provides. Continue clicking the "Generate" button and take note of the criteria/levels of performance that you would like to use for your assignment. Then use those terms in the prompt provided on this page. 

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