Focus to
task
Continuously
stays focused to the task. Very self-motivated.
Focuses to
the task most of the time. Can be depended on to complete a task.
Focuses to
the task some of the time. Others need to encourage, prod and remind this
person to stay on task
Rarely
focuses on the task. Lets others do the work.
(Rubric for Group Evaluations)
Rubistar http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ is a great website to go to for teachers to be able to either create or find your own rubrics.
CONCLUSION
Best practices teach us that if group evaluations are taken seriously
and are truly supportive of either maintaining or enhancing language and soft
skills, students will acquire many important soft skills and professional
skills through their group work activates (and from their evaluations of their
group efforts). This is true whether
students are beginners, intermediate or advanced speakers of the language they
are communicating in.
Felder
and Brent (2010) write, "Once you have a checklist or rubric, grading student
work becomes much more efficient than the usual procedure in which detailed
feedback is provided on each student product, and more reliable because the
breakdown of points by criteria makes it more likely that products of the same
quality will get the same grade." While it is true that rubrics and checklists
are used in Omani tertiary education, one problem I have noted in here is that
often rubrics are not simplified and nor translated so that students can benefit
from them in an efficient manner, especially when their all-around language
skills may be low. They are often also not repeatedly used enough so that both
instructor and student can observe improvements over time. It should not be
difficult for bilingual staff to enable the creation of great rubrics and
checklists for groups and individual students . (One example of an individual checklist can be found in the Appendix
2 of this work.)
As
noted above, rubrics support good group work practices and other student
soft-skills. Some departments at
universities and technical colleges in
In
conclusion, just as students are taught early-on that writing or creating a
good paragraph involves various elements: (1) good topic sentence, (2) great
supporting details, and a (3) strong conclusion, our students need to be shown
an image or target of what is required to do well in the work place--and
working with others outside of the college world in general. This is true--regardless as to whether an Omani
works with team mates (or workmates) from the same tribe or culture. This is why I encourage the creation and
implementation of helpful group-work and teamwork rubrics and checklists which
support such soft-skills and positive group work behaviours.
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