A Nice “Questions Presented” Rubric
Last night I observed an excellent presentation on rubrics and student assessments from Gonzaga law professor Sandra Simpson. While the last thing that I expected to get from her presentation was fodder for a blog post, about half-way through her presentation she provided an example of a rubric that could be shared with students in order to help them see what a good answer would entail. To my surprise and excitement, the rubric she provided was for a good question presented. My mind raced back to all of the nice posts on “questions presented” and “issue statements” that my fellow bloggers have been sharing recently. As such, I couldn’t wait to share Professor Simpson’s example with the masses. The rubric is as follows:
- The question presented is framed with the issue and facts in such a way as to elicit an answer which is favorable to our client
- The questions appear in the order they are argued
- The question contains the law – general area and the civil rule
- The question contains the standard on summary judgment
- The question contains a core question that connects the law to the facts
- The question contains the material facts needed for the motion
What do you think?
To read more of her work on rubrics and student assessments, check out her article available on Heinonline: Riding the Carousel: Making Assessment a Learning Loop through Continuous Use of Grading Rubrics,” 6 Canadian Legal Education Annual Review 35 (2011)