Sport and exercise sciences students’ and teaching assistants’ perceptions of rubrics in tertiary education

Abstract

Little is known about the use that sport and exercise sciences students of different levels of study at university make of grading rubrics. The aims of this study were to develop a greater understanding of the perceptions students and teaching assistants (TAs) have of grading rubrics when writing and grading laboratory reports, respectively. Results showed that students in the earlier stage of their academic careers had more positive perceptions of rubrics and that students in the later part of their academic careers wanted more specific information from rubrics. Despite having positive perceptions of the rubric, nearly a third of teaching assistants chose not to use the rubric to inform their grading. Grading rubrics were generally well received by students at each level of study and benefits of rubrics included planning and enabling students to understand what to include in a report. Grading rubrics should be presented to sport and exercise students to enhance the educational scaffolding within the learning environment.