Making a little theory go a long way: situating rubrics for learning and assessing

Connecting theory and practice requires teachers of technical communication to find a balance between deepening students´ appreciation of theoretical principles and giving students the practical advice they want and, in fact, need. Inherent in this challenge is another: teaching communication efficiently and economically. At the University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, we are exploring a promising approach. In a new first year design course, currently in a pilot phase with 150 students but scheduled to expand to 900 in the fall of 2005, we are implementing grading rubrics designed both as assessment tools and as guides to enable students to instruct themselves as they move from assignment to assignment. Using rubrics with an eye to their situated mediational aspects allows a sharing of learning responsibilities. The data from our current use of rubrics adds to prior and recent research in engineering populations in the US and Canada demonstrating how rubrics act to instantiate a two-way dynamic by: 1. providing response to student work that both articulates clearly the requirements for acceptable/excelling work, 2. making key information for assessment available both before and after the work of an assignment so that the student can directly experience the application of theory in planning and reviewing documentation activities instead of only being able to match up standards articulated after production. 3. allowing student and teacher to establish a point of view that both focuses on current demands and refers to expectations of a community of practice.