New features for providing e-rubrics with adaptable properties

Learning rubrics allow for standardizing the evaluation process. Assessment criteria are scored on the basis of performance levels that define the degree of compliance with established specifications. But the aims of rubrics can go beyond assessment. Formative purposes can also be achieved with rubrics, as they enable students to detect the strengths and weaknesses in their training. Adaptable rubrics are those which permit students to adapt rubric specifications to their own learning rhythm. Often, electronic formats (e-rubrics) facilitate rubric adaptability. This article focuses on selected features used to provide rubrics with adaptable properties. A study has been conducted on the use of these adaptable features in self-assessment, in order to search for students' usage patterns. An analysis has been performed on two e-rubric features: the Unfold/fold feature, which allows the user to arrange criteria at multiple levels of detail and expand them on demand, and the Bubbles feature, which provides additional explanations with performance levels. The results reveal that the use of the Unfold/fold and Bubbles features are significantly correlated, showing that the studied features for adaptable purposes are frequently used together, although their percentages of use reach a maximum of a 35.5%. These results are the first step to establish recommendations for use for these types of features in adaptable rubrics. Further study lies in ascertaining if their application allows for attaining advantages in self-assessment, such as increased instructor-student inter-reliability.