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Written Assignment Unit 3

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xivicnickko
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Balancing Structure and Creativity: Rethinking the Role of Rubrics in Fostering Critical

Thinking and Innovation

Submitted by
DOMINIQUE G. BATADLAN
Master of Education major in Advance Teaching

Submitted to
ISMAIL YUKSEL
Instructor
EDUC 5440-01 Assessment and Evaluation

December 05, 2024


There has been a lot of debate over the use of rubrics in education, as an aid to the

marking of assignments, among educators, scholars, and policymakers. A Conundrum: Rubrics

for Creativity/Metacognitive Development, by Valerie G. Chapman and M. Duane Inman, in the

year 2009, postulates a very strong point about how rubrics might potentially constrain the

creativity, problem-solving capacities, and general cognitive capacity of the students. The

authors believe that standardized rubrics, most often designed to measure the performance of

students in terms of specific criteria, might limit their ability to think critically and be innovative

or flexible while solving problems unconsciously. As Chapman and Inman explain in 2009, "a

rubric can create a narrow path, leaving less room for divergent thinking and individual initiative

needed for creativity, democratic participation, and economic productivity."

Creativity is no longer a good but a necessary tool in solving more complex problems of

governance and economics of a democratic society. The problem about the rubrics is it rigidly

confines and dictates what's norm and what should be expected. This is where the students are

not at the liberty to venture into alternative or other solutions. It would not encourage the critical

thinking of real-world problems as an aim for the solution to a problem. An educator preparing

the child for a globalized world environment requires creating space for creativity and

independence in learners' thought processes. In fact, the authors have moved ahead with the

proposition that work done by students on a template designed by the teacher does not have a

meaningful task of analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information. Chapman & Inman

(2009)
Another researcher has actually stated the concern that the use of rubrics damps

creativity, apart from attacking the standardized assessments to be used in schools. For instance,

Heidari and Ibrahim (2018) mentioned that although rubrics clearly give expectations about the

performance and make grading easier, they probably decrease the room for thinking and, thus,

promote obedience rather than inquiry. In the same vein, L. L. Toh (2021) asserted that rubrics

typically instill a "checklist" mindset wherein students focus more on meeting the minimum

standards rather than coming up with novel solutions to a problem. Flexibility in assessment can

be very apparent in the context. Educational practices continue to change; therefore, I recognize

that students vary as far as needs, skills, and creative ability that one has to take into account

rather than having a one-fit-all approach for the assessment.

As a teacher, I now realize the importance of rubrics with regard to transparency,

consistency, and fairness in terms of grading. I always thought that the structure should never

exceed creativity and flexibility. Therefore, in my present use of rubrics, I will ensure to

provide space for creativity, and flexibility by creating rubrics that will build room for

exploration and innovation yet within established criteria. For example, instead of prescribing a

tight set of steps for the project, I would give the student broad outlines that would leak out key

goals such as originality, critical thinking, and applicability. I would give the students space to

decide how they would like to approach the work. This would empower the students to exercise

their initiative and take responsibility for their learning, building in responsibility and self-

direction in the process.


This could, for example, be realized by using the rubric of a research project. Here again,

although the elements like research question, data analysis, and references would be outlined, it

could be an adaptive one where the students would have the freedom of selecting their methods

of research or areas of interest as based on their interests and uniqueness. This would allow the

students to express their creativity in the approach they take in solving the research problem

rather than following a formula. Such flexibility within the rubric liberates students to be graded

not only about the ability to meet the outlined criteria but also for their capacity to think critically

and creatively about the topic involved.

Although rubrics are good for clarifying and standardizing the assessment, their overuse

or application in a rigid form can straighten the creativity and problem-solving ability of

students. Educators must try to bring the ideas and principles of creativity, self-thought, and

flexibility for learning together with rubrics. That would guide us towards helping students in

developing individuals who can think creatively and work in a democratic state.
References

Chapman, V. G., & Inman, M. D. (2009). A conundrum: Rubrics for creativity/metacognitive

development. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(2), 1-11.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ849020.pdf

Heidari, H., & Ibrahim, M. H. (2018). The impact of rubrics on creativity and student

achievement: A review. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 6(3),

128-136. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.6n.3p.128

Toh, L. L. (2021). Creativity and the limitations of rubrics in fostering innovation. Educational

Leadership and Policy Studies Journal, 5(1), 12-25.

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