Rubric for the Six Facets of Understanding [Wiggins & McTighe]
[Wiggins & McTighe]
| Explanation | Interpretation | Application | Perspective | Empathy | Self-Knowledge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sophisticated: an unusually thorough, elegant, and inventive account (model, theory, or explanation); fully supported, verified, and justified; deep and broad; goes well beyond the information given. | Profound: a powerful and illuminating interpretation and analysis of the importance/meaning/significance; tells a rich and insightful story; provides a rich history or context; sees deeply and incisively any ironies in the different interpretations. | Masterful: fluent, flexible, and efficient; able to use knowledge and skill and adjust understandings well in novel, diverse, and difficult contexts. | Insightful: a penetrating and novel viewpoint; effectively critiques and encompasses other plausible perspectives; takes a long and dispassionate, critical view of the issues involved. | Mature: disposed and able to see and feel what others see and feel; unusually open to and willing to seek out the odd, alien, or different, | Wise: deeply aware of the boundaries of one’s own and others’ understanding; able to recognize his prejudices and projections; has integrity – able and willing to act on what one understands. |
| In-depth: an atypical and revealing account, going beyond what is obvious or what was explicitly taught; makes subtle connections; well supported by argument and evidence; novel thinking displayed. | Revealing: a nuanced interpretation and analysis of the importance/meaning/significance; tells an insightful story; provides a telling history or context; sees subtle differences, levels, and ironies in diverse interpretations. | Skilled: competent in using knowledge and skill and adapting understanding in a variety of appropriate and demanding contexts. | Thorough: a revealing and coordinated critical view; makes own view more plausible by considering the plausibility of other perspectives; makes apt criticisms, discriminations, and qualifications. | Sensitive: disposed to see and feel what others see and feel; open to the unfamiliar and different. | Circumspect: aware of one’s ignorance and that of others; aware of one’s prejudices; knows the strengths and limits of one’s understanding. |
| Developed: an account that reflects some in-depth and personalized ideas; the student is making the work her own, going beyond the given – there is supported theory here, but insufficient or inadequate argument or evidence. | Perspective: a helpful interpretation or analysis of the importance/meaning/significance; tells a clear and instructive story; provides a useful history or context; sees different levels of interpretation. | Able: able to perform well with knowledge and skill in a few key contexts, with a limited repertoire, flexibility, or adaptability to diverse contexts. | Considered: a reasonably critical and comprehensive look at all the points of view in the context of one’s own; makes clear that there is plausibility to other points of view. | Aware: knows and feels what others see and feel differently; somewhat able to empathize with others; has difficulty making sense of odd or alien views. | Thoughtful: generally aware of what is and is not understood; aware of how prejudice and projection can occur without awareness and shape one’s views. |
| Intuitive: an incomplete account but with apt and insightful ideas; extends and deepens some of what was learned; some “reading between the lines”; account has limited support/argument/data or sweeping generalizations. There is a theory, but one with limited testing and evidence. | Interpreted: a plausible interpretation or analysis of the importance/meaning/significance; makes sense of a story; provides history and context. | Apprentice: relies on a limited repertoire of routines; able to perform well in familiar or simple contexts, with perhaps some needed coaching; limited use of personal judgment and responsiveness to specifics of feedback/situation. | Aware: knows of different points of view and somewhat able to place own view in perspective, but weakness in considering worth of each perspective, especially one’s own uncritical about tacit assumptions. | Developing: has some capacity and self-discipline to “walk in another’s shoes” but is still primarily limited to one’s own reactions and attitudes; puzzled or put out by different feelings or attitudes. | Unreflective: generally unaware of one’s specific ignorance; generally unaware of how subjective prejudgments colour understandings. |
| Naïve: a superficial account; more descriptive than analytical or creative; a fragmentary or sketchy account of facts/ideas or glib generalizations; a black-and-white account; less a theory than an unexamined hunch or borrowed idea. | Literal: a simplistic or superficial reading; mechanical translation, a decoding with little or no interpretation; no sense of wider importance or significance; a restatement of what was taught or read. | Novice: can perform only with coaching or relies on highly scripted, singular “plug-in” (algorithmic and mechanical) skills, procedures, or approaches. | Uncritical: unaware of differing points of view; prone to overlook or ignore other perspectives; has difficulty imagining other ways of seeing things; prone to egocentric argument and personal criticisms. | Egocentric: has little or no empathy beyond intellectual awareness of others; sees things through own ideas and feelings; ignores or is threatened or puzzled by different feelings, attitudes, or views. | Innocent: completely unaware of the bounds of one’s understanding and of the role of projection and prejudice in opinions and attempts to understand. |
Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. pp76-77