Grading digital assignments can be challenging and can feel subjective if you have not articulated your expectations from the start. The following points will help you begin creating an evaluation criterion:
• Decide what is more important, the process students go through when conducting the assignment, the final product they create, or both. Based on what you decide, determine the weight you will give to each area. For example, the process could be 60%, and the product could be 40%.
• When evaluating the process component, determine how you will observe and measure it. Having students journal or write a longer essay about the process is one way. Having them present on it is another. When you scaffold an assignment, it is easier to keep an eye on how well students are following instructions and the care they are giving to each step.
• When evaluating the final product(s), determine what specific elements you will be grading. For example, in addition to grading the content, you can grade the writing quality, how well media is incorporated the interpretation and incorporation of data information organization, and the visual design principles applied. (See the "Student Project Checklist" for possible grading elements.)
• If students are working in groups, determine whether everyone will get the same grade or whether they will be graded individually. When you choose to grade students as a group, decide ahead of time how you will manage situations where students do not contribute enough to the project.
Below is a list of possible assignment criteria to incorperate into requirements and/or rubrics.
External sites linked to are selected based on how much they add to the content of the project.
The external sites are carefully selected based on the quality of information they provide
All media, e.g., images and video, are relevant to the topic.
All media is chosen based on the intellectual value or meaning they bring to the project.
There are captions or text that explain the relevance of the media.
All media is properly cited, and/or credit is given.
The information architecture is logical and easy to navigate.
The menu/navigation bar labels are logical, concise, and relevant to the information they link to.
Page headers and subheaders are logical, concise, and relevant.
The layout of the content on individual pages is well organized and logical.
All hyperlinks work and link to the appropriate site/page.
All images appear.
All URLs (web addresses) have been turned into hyperlinked text. The specific words chosen to be hyperlinked should be logical, i.e., they lead to where users would expect.
The project addresses basic ADA compliance requirements, including:
Headers are consistently used.
Images have alt-text.
Fonts and color choices are ADA approved.
There is an appropriate (aesthetically pleasing and intellectually stimulating) balance between text and images.
Text and images complement each other.
Images are tastefully formatted, i.e., they are an appropriate dimension, cropped, so that rough edges are removed, they align well with the text, and they are of an appropriate resolution so that they do not look pixelated (more info on image size).
All text is easy to read, be it due to layout (e.g., spacing) or the choice of size, font, and color.
The written content is concise while being highly informative.
The written content is a synthesis and analysis of authoritative information/data and one’s own thoughts.
Written content is logically organized and distributed throughout the site.
Titles, headers, and captions are relevant, clear, descriptive, and thoughtful.
As with an essay or long paper, there is a clear flow of ideas.
Quotes and paraphrased ideas are properly cited.