Rubrics are an art and I have borrowed heavily from Ohler in identifying five areas, from Ohler’s “Digital Story Assessment Traits” that would be important to me in evaluating a digital media project. As Ohler suggests, I have built into the rubric a component directed to the planning phase of the project and its associated artifacts (script and storyboard). (Ohler 2013). Encouraging proper planning as part of the rubric is, in my view, a key way to help keep students on task and to prevent them from becoming overwhelmed.
Content understanding is a key representation (in my application) of math rigor. There are several ways to define content, but my focus is on the math content and less the story, since I would tolerate a completely fictional story provided the math was sound and the story was relevant to the content.
Since this is a media project, I have a section dedicated to the types and forms of media used in the project. The numbers of each type feel somewhat arbitrary and I can envision pushback from a student that wants to present a simple story. However, one aspect of the project is simply to practice weaving media types together into a unified whole, so I feel justified in my selections.
I believe in the age of the internet, originality and voice and important. It is too easy to cut and paste a storyline, but I think originality and creativity shine through. I am less concerned about “voice” – both because I don’t want to confuse my student into thinking I am referencing physical voice (like the narration) and because I think voice gets represented in and through creativity and originality. How students frame the work “speaks” to me about their voice.
Finally, the story matters so it is the last item in the rubric. The story needs to to blend two or more concepts in a way that makes them relevant to each other and brings math to life in a meaningful way or application.
Citation:
Ohler, J. (2013) Chapter 4: Assessing Digital Stories. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA : Corwin. pp. 83-91.
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