Analytical rubrics in higher education: A repository of empirical data

The use of rubrics for grading and feedback in higher education has increased inresponse to requirements for consistency and transparency across a diverse range ofassessment tasks. There is a growing evidence base demonstrating the reliability ofrubrics across different markers and instances. The number of studies describing theimpact of rubrics on student learning has also grown; however, these studies arepredominantly qualitative and/or use a quasi-experimental design. Confounding factorsin these studies include the validity and quality of the rubric, markers’ expertise andstudents’ previous experience of using rubrics and learning preferences. This paperdescribes a data set comprising student marks from large cohorts of postgraduatestudents, pre and post the introduction of rubrics on three different modules, and theassociated rubrics. In making these data available under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution License, it is hoped to establish a repository of rubrics validatedfor specific assessment tasks and their associated data sets, to develop robust methods fortheir evaluation and explore methods of rubric deployment for effective learningthrough assessment.