How does a rubric like the Holistic Thinking Scoring Rubric work?

The Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric (HCTSR) is a rating measure that can be used to assess the quality of critical thinking displayed in a verbal presentation or written text.  One would use the HCTSR to rate a written document or presentation where the presenter is required to be explicit about their thinking process. If you used this instrument to assess critical thinking in your sample you will need to train the raters well to assure that they are making accurate ratings (judgments) about the evidence of critical thinking that they are observing and evaluating. It would be important to select a task, presentation, or written product where the thinker has been asked to explain their thinking and not just to provide the conclusions they have reached in regard to a particular dilemma. The validity and reliability of all such rubrics (rating forms) is judged by the Kappa Statistic, and as a result this is a potentially weaker measure of critical thinking than the other validated standardized instruments available through Insight Assessment. The HCTSR is available free of cost, but must be appropriately cited in all publications and postings of your reported results.