{"id":29422,"date":"2026-03-11T15:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T19:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/askastudent.utoronto.ca\/?p=29422"},"modified":"2026-03-11T15:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T19:23:11","slug":"rubrics-rubrics-for-the-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/askastudent.utoronto.ca\/?p=29422","title":{"rendered":"rubrics? rubrics for the poor?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi\u00a0<\/span>aska<\/span>!\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019m<\/span>\u00a0a\u00a0<\/span>first year<\/span>\u00a0student at the Daniel\u2019s faculty (about to be a second year and have also studied a year prior at the\u00a0<\/span>university<\/span>\u00a0of\u00a0<\/span>Waterloo )<\/span>\u00a0and I am having difficulties with the\u00a0<\/span>courses<\/span>\u00a0assignment outlines. Throughout\u00a0<\/span>high-school<\/span>\u00a0I was given\u00a0<\/span>very detailed<\/span>\u00a0assignment outlines and would average high 80s to mid 90s. When I first entered\u00a0<\/span>post secondary<\/span>\u00a0schooling at\u00a0<\/span>Waterloo<\/span>\u00a0I was able to perform to my best capabilities and average mid 80s to low 90s due to their detailed assignment outlines.\u00a0<\/span>However<\/span>\u00a0the switch to\u00a0<\/span>UofT<\/span>\u00a0has been difficult since the assignment\u00a0<\/span>outlines<\/span>\u00a0I get are either very vague\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0around 2-4 sentences in length, some without rubrics to\u00a0<\/span>accompany<\/span>\u00a0them. My marks are not at the level that I know I can achieve (around high 60s to high 70s). I was wondering how I would be able to get a more concrete understanding of the assignment and perform well on them. I do constantly ask professors,\u00a0<\/span>TA\u2019s<\/span>, and instructors for\u00a0<\/span>help<\/span>\u00a0but I find most of their responses to be completely useless or they\u00a0<\/span>don\u2019t<\/span>\u00a0answer the question I was asking. What should I do?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

heyyo,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

i\u00a0love your\u00a0question so\u00a0so\u00a0much!\u00a0because\u00a0I’ve\u00a0asked myself the same thing.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

look,\u00a0i\u00a0know\u00a0uoft\u00a0talks\u00a0about independent learning and self-discovery and all that great stuff.\u00a0but sometimes when,\u00a0y\u2019know,\u00a0<\/span>important\u00a0<\/span><\/i>things depend on that\u00a0independent\u00a0learning,\u00a0you\u2019d\u00a0really appreciate some clear guidelines.\u00a0can anyone spare\u00a0a\u00a0rubric, anyone?!\u00a0rubrics, please!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Alms<\/p>\n

obviously\u00a0the first step here would be asking your ta or prof, but you already did that.\u00a0so\u00a0my first suggestion would be\u00a0to try refining those questions. instead of asking\u00a0generally\u00a0\u201cwhat should\u00a0i\u00a0do for the assignment?\u201d or \u201chow can\u00a0i\u00a0improve?\u201d\u00a0try\u00a0asking about something\u00a0more specific. like: \u201cthe assignment says\u00a0i\u00a0have to draw on x concept from the reading, could you clarify how that reading relates\u00a0to the assignment material?\u201d or \u201ci\u00a0noticed in my last assignment feedback that\u00a0i\u00a0could improve my sentence structure, could you give some concrete examples of sentences you felt could have used some work?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

oh, and if you\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0been already, go to office hours to ask your questions.\u00a0it’ll\u00a0be\u00a0way easier\u00a0to get your points across and push for clarification one-on-one and in person.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

if\u00a0<\/span>that\u00a0<\/span><\/i>doesn\u2019t\u00a0work…\u00a0it might be time to do a little sleuthing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

sometimes the best advice you can get for assignments can come from indirect places. listen carefully in lecture to see if your prof says anything that could be applicable (did they spend five minutes ranting about run-on sentences? did they offhandedly mention that they appreciate brief introductions?) also, take a close look at past assignment feedback.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

if all else fails (or even if everything does magically works out), you can take your work to a writing centre. i actually found out from your question that daniels has its own writing centre. <\/span>voila!<\/span><\/a>\u00a0they\u00a0can help with all stages of assignments and could help puzzle together what an assignment is asking for more specifically.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

i\u00a0really hope these tips help you and everyone else\u00a0who is\u00a0kinda\u00a0fed up with vague assignments.\u00a0i\u00a0know that thinking through\u00a0this for\u00a0you for sure helped me a ton!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

cheers,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

aska<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi\u00a0aska!\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0a\u00a0first year\u00a0student at the Daniel\u2019s faculty (about to be a second year and have also studied a year prior at the\u00a0university\u00a0of\u00a0Waterloo )\u00a0and I am having difficulties with the\u00a0courses\u00a0assignment outlines. Throughout\u00a0high-school\u00a0I was given\u00a0very detailed\u00a0assignment outlines and would average high 80s to mid 90s. When I first entered\u00a0post secondary\u00a0schooling at\u00a0Waterloo\u00a0I was able to perform to my best capabilities and average mid 80s to low 90s due to their detailed assignment outlines.\u00a0However\u00a0the switch to\u00a0UofT\u00a0has been difficult since the assignment\u00a0outlines\u00a0I get are either very vague\u00a0and\u00a0around 2-4 sentences in length, some without rubrics to\u00a0accompany\u00a0them. My marks are not at the level that I know I can achieve (around high 60s to high 70s). I was wondering how I would be able to get a more concrete understanding of the assignment and perform well on them. I do constantly ask professors,\u00a0TA\u2019s, and instructors for\u00a0help\u00a0but I find most of their responses to be completely useless or they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0answer the question I was asking. What should I do?\u00a0 heyyo,\u00a0 i\u00a0love your\u00a0question so\u00a0so\u00a0much!\u00a0because\u00a0I’ve\u00a0asked myself the same thing.\u00a0\u00a0 look,\u00a0i\u00a0know\u00a0uoft\u00a0talks\u00a0about independent learning and self-discovery and all that great stuff.\u00a0but sometimes when,\u00a0y\u2019know,\u00a0important\u00a0things depend on that\u00a0independent\u00a0learning,\u00a0you\u2019d\u00a0really appreciate some clear guidelines.\u00a0can anyone spare\u00a0a\u00a0rubric, anyone?!\u00a0rubrics, please!\u00a0 obviously\u00a0the first step here would be asking your ta or prof, but you already did that.\u00a0so\u00a0my first suggestion would be\u00a0to try refining those questions. instead of asking\u00a0generally\u00a0\u201cwhat should\u00a0i\u00a0do for the assignment?\u201d or \u201chow can\u00a0i\u00a0improve?\u201d\u00a0try\u00a0asking about something\u00a0more specific. like: \u201cthe assignment says\u00a0i\u00a0have to draw on x concept from the reading, could you clarify how that reading relates\u00a0to the assignment material?\u201d or \u201ci\u00a0noticed in my last assignment feedback that\u00a0i\u00a0could improve my sentence structure, could you give some concrete examples of sentences you felt could have used some work?\u201d\u00a0 oh, and if you\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0been already, go to office hours to ask your questions.\u00a0it’ll\u00a0be\u00a0way easier\u00a0to get your points across and push for clarification one-on-one and in person.\u00a0 if\u00a0that\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0work…\u00a0it might be time to do a little sleuthing.\u00a0 sometimes the best advice you can get for assignments can come from indirect places. listen carefully in lecture to see if your prof says anything that could be applicable (did they spend five minutes ranting about run-on sentences? did they offhandedly mention that they appreciate brief introductions?) also, take a close look at past assignment feedback.\u00a0\u00a0 if all else fails (or even if everything does magically works out), you can take your work to a writing centre. i actually found out from your question that daniels has its own writing centre. voila!\u00a0they\u00a0can help with all stages of assignments and could help puzzle together what an assignment is asking for more specifically.\u00a0 i\u00a0really hope these tips help you and everyone else\u00a0who is\u00a0kinda\u00a0fed up with vague assignments.\u00a0i\u00a0know that thinking through\u00a0this for\u00a0you for sure helped me a ton!\u00a0 cheers,\u00a0 aska\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[277,135,273,279,304],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academic-success","category-architecture","category-course-work","category-daniels-2","category-writing-centre"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t