thesis marking rubric

Rubric Best Practices, Examples, and Templates

A rubric is a scoring tool that identifies the different criteria relevant to an assignment, assessment, or learning outcome and states the possible levels of achievement in a specific, clear, and objective way. Use rubrics to assess project-based student work including essays, group projects, creative endeavors, and oral presentations.

Rubrics can help instructors communicate expectations to students and assess student work fairly, consistently and efficiently. Rubrics can provide students with informative feedback on their strengths and weaknesses so that they can reflect on their performance and work on areas that need improvement.

How to Get Started

Best practices, moodle how-to guides.

• Workshop Recording (Fall 2022)
• Workshop Registration

Step 1: Analyze the assignment

The first step in the rubric creation process is to analyze the assignment or assessment for which you are creating a rubric. To do this, consider the following questions:

• What is the purpose of the assignment and your feedback? What do you want students to demonstrate through the completion of this assignment (i.e. what are the learning objectives measured by it)? Is it a summative assessment, or will students use the feedback to create an improved product?
• Does the assignment break down into different or smaller tasks? Are these tasks equally important as the main assignment?
• What would an “excellent” assignment look like? An “acceptable” assignment? One that still needs major work?
• How detailed do you want the feedback you give students to be? Do you want/need to give them a grade?

Step 2: Decide what kind of rubric you will use

Types of rubrics: holistic, analytic/descriptive, single-point

Holistic Rubric. A holistic rubric includes all the criteria (such as clarity, organization, mechanics, etc.) to be considered together and included in a single evaluation. With a holistic rubric, the rater or grader assigns a single score based on an overall judgment of the student’s work, using descriptions of each performance level to assign the score.

Advantages of holistic rubrics:

• Can p lace an emphasis on what learners can demonstrate rather than what they cannot
• Save grader time by minimizing the number of evaluations to be made for each student
• Can be used consistently across raters, provided they have all been trained

Disadvantages of holistic rubrics:

• Provide less specific feedback than analytic/descriptive rubrics
• Can be difficult to choose a score when a student’s work is at varying levels across the criteria
• Any weighting of c riteria cannot be indicated in the rubric

Analytic/Descriptive Rubric . An analytic or descriptive rubric often takes the form of a table with the criteria listed in the left column and with levels of performance listed across the top row. Each cell contains a description of what the specified criterion looks like at a given level of performance. Each of the criteria is scored individually.

Advantages of analytic rubrics:

• Provide detailed feedback on areas of strength or weakness
• Each criterion can be weighted to reflect its relative importance

Disadvantages of analytic rubrics:

• More time-consuming to create and use than a holistic rubric
• May not be used consistently across raters unless the cells are well defined
• May result in giving less personalized feedback

Single-Point Rubric . A single-point rubric is breaks down the components of an assignment into different criteria, but instead of describing different levels of performance, only the “proficient” level is described. Feedback space is provided for instructors to give individualized comments to help students improve and/or show where they excelled beyond the proficiency descriptors.

Advantages of single-point rubrics:

• Easier to create than an analytic/descriptive rubric
• Perhaps more likely that students will read the descriptors
• Areas of concern and excellence are open-ended
• May removes a focus on the grade/points
• May increase student creativity in project-based assignments

Disadvantage of analytic rubrics: Requires more work for instructors writing feedback

Step 3 (Optional): Look for templates and examples.

You might Google, “Rubric for persuasive essay at the college level” and see if there are any publicly available examples to start from. Ask your colleagues if they have used a rubric for a similar assignment. Some examples are also available at the end of this article. These rubrics can be a great starting point for you, but consider steps 3, 4, and 5 below to ensure that the rubric matches your assignment description, learning objectives and expectations.

Step 4: Define the assignment criteria

Make a list of the knowledge and skills are you measuring with the assignment/assessment Refer to your stated learning objectives, the assignment instructions, past examples of student work, etc. for help.

  Helpful strategies for defining grading criteria:

• Collaborate with co-instructors, teaching assistants, and other colleagues
• Brainstorm and discuss with students
• Can they be observed and measured?
• Are they important and essential?
• Are they distinct from other criteria?
• Are they phrased in precise, unambiguous language?
• Revise the criteria as needed
• Consider whether some are more important than others, and how you will weight them.

Step 5: Design the rating scale

Most ratings scales include between 3 and 5 levels. Consider the following questions when designing your rating scale:

• Given what students are able to demonstrate in this assignment/assessment, what are the possible levels of achievement?
• How many levels would you like to include (more levels means more detailed descriptions)
• Will you use numbers and/or descriptive labels for each level of performance? (for example 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and/or Exceeds expectations, Accomplished, Proficient, Developing, Beginning, etc.)
• Don’t use too many columns, and recognize that some criteria can have more columns that others . The rubric needs to be comprehensible and organized. Pick the right amount of columns so that the criteria flow logically and naturally across levels.

Step 6: Write descriptions for each level of the rating scale

Artificial Intelligence tools like Chat GPT have proven to be useful tools for creating a rubric. You will want to engineer your prompt that you provide the AI assistant to ensure you get what you want. For example, you might provide the assignment description, the criteria you feel are important, and the number of levels of performance you want in your prompt. Use the results as a starting point, and adjust the descriptions as needed.

Building a rubric from scratch

For a single-point rubric , describe what would be considered “proficient,” i.e. B-level work, and provide that description. You might also include suggestions for students outside of the actual rubric about how they might surpass proficient-level work.

For analytic and holistic rubrics , c reate statements of expected performance at each level of the rubric.

• Consider what descriptor is appropriate for each criteria, e.g., presence vs absence, complete vs incomplete, many vs none, major vs minor, consistent vs inconsistent, always vs never. If you have an indicator described in one level, it will need to be described in each level.
• You might start with the top/exemplary level. What does it look like when a student has achieved excellence for each/every criterion? Then, look at the “bottom” level. What does it look like when a student has not achieved the learning goals in any way? Then, complete the in-between levels.
• For an analytic rubric , do this for each particular criterion of the rubric so that every cell in the table is filled. These descriptions help students understand your expectations and their performance in regard to those expectations.

Well-written descriptions:

• Describe observable and measurable behavior
• Use parallel language across the scale
• Indicate the degree to which the standards are met

Step 7: Create your rubric

Create your rubric in a table or spreadsheet in Word, Google Docs, Sheets, etc., and then transfer it by typing it into Moodle. You can also use online tools to create the rubric, but you will still have to type the criteria, indicators, levels, etc., into Moodle. Rubric creators: Rubistar , iRubric

Step 8: Pilot-test your rubric

Prior to implementing your rubric on a live course, obtain feedback from:

• Teacher assistants

Try out your new rubric on a sample of student work. After you pilot-test your rubric, analyze the results to consider its effectiveness and revise accordingly.

• Limit the rubric to a single page for reading and grading ease
• Use parallel language . Use similar language and syntax/wording from column to column. Make sure that the rubric can be easily read from left to right or vice versa.
• Use student-friendly language . Make sure the language is learning-level appropriate. If you use academic language or concepts, you will need to teach those concepts.
• Share and discuss the rubric with your students . Students should understand that the rubric is there to help them learn, reflect, and self-assess. If students use a rubric, they will understand the expectations and their relevance to learning.
• Consider scalability and reusability of rubrics. Create rubric templates that you can alter as needed for multiple assignments.
• Maximize the descriptiveness of your language. Avoid words like “good” and “excellent.” For example, instead of saying, “uses excellent sources,” you might describe what makes a resource excellent so that students will know. You might also consider reducing the reliance on quantity, such as a number of allowable misspelled words. Focus instead, for example, on how distracting any spelling errors are.

Example of an analytic rubric for a final paper

Example of a holistic rubric for a final paper, single-point rubric, more examples:.

• Single Point Rubric Template ( variation )
• Analytic Rubric Template make a copy to edit
• A Rubric for Rubrics
• Bank of Online Discussion Rubrics in different formats
• Mathematical Presentations Descriptive Rubric
• Math Proof Assessment Rubric
• Kansas State Sample Rubrics
• Design Single Point Rubric

Technology Tools: Rubrics in Moodle

• Moodle Docs: Rubrics
• Moodle Docs: Grading Guide (use for single-point rubrics)

Tools with rubrics (other than Moodle)

• Google Assignments
• Turnitin Assignments: Rubric or Grading Form

Other resources

• DePaul University (n.d.). Rubrics .
• Gonzalez, J. (2014). Know your terms: Holistic, Analytic, and Single-Point Rubrics . Cult of Pedagogy.
• Goodrich, H. (1996). Understanding rubrics . Teaching for Authentic Student Performance, 54 (4), 14-17. Retrieved from   
• Miller, A. (2012). Tame the beast: tips for designing and using rubrics.
• Ragupathi, K., Lee, A. (2020). Beyond Fairness and Consistency in Grading: The Role of Rubrics in Higher Education. In: Sanger, C., Gleason, N. (eds) Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.

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Whenever we give feedback, it inevitably reflects our priorities and expectations about the assignment. In other words, we're using a rubric to choose which elements (e.g., right/wrong answer, work shown, thesis analysis, style, etc.) receive more or less feedback and what counts as a "good thesis" or a "less good thesis." When we evaluate student work, that is, we always have a rubric. The question is how consciously we’re applying it, whether we’re transparent with students about what it is, whether it’s aligned with what students are learning in our course, and whether we’re applying it consistently. The more we’re doing all of the following, the more consistent and equitable our feedback and grading will be:

Being conscious of your rubric ideally means having one written out, with explicit criteria and concrete features that describe more/less successful versions of each criterion. If you don't have a rubric written out, you can use this assignment prompt decoder for TFs & TAs to determine which elements and criteria should be the focus of your rubric.

Being transparent with students about your rubric means sharing it with them ahead of time and making sure they understand it. This assignment prompt decoder for students is designed to facilitate this discussion between students and instructors.

Aligning your rubric with your course means articulating the relationship between “this” assignment and the ones that scaffold up and build from it, which ideally involves giving students the chance to practice different elements of the assignment and get formative feedback before they’re asked to submit material that will be graded. For more ideas and advice on how this looks, see the " Formative Assignments " page at Gen Ed Writes.

Applying your rubric consistently means using a stable vocabulary when making your comments and keeping your feedback focused on the criteria in your rubric.

How to Build a Rubric

Rubrics and assignment prompts are two sides of a coin. If you’ve already created a prompt, you should have all of the information you need to make a rubric. Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way, and that itself turns out to be an advantage of making rubrics: it’s a great way to test whether your prompt is in fact communicating to students everything they need to know about the assignment they’ll be doing.

So what do students need to know? In general, assignment prompts boil down to a small number of common elements :

• Evidence and Analysis
• Style and Conventions
• Specific Guidelines
• Advice on Process

If an assignment prompt is clearly addressing each of these elements, then students know what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, and when/how/for whom they’re doing it. From the standpoint of a rubric, we can see how these elements correspond to the criteria for feedback:

All of these criteria can be weighed and given feedback, and they’re all things that students can be taught and given opportunities to practice. That makes them good criteria for a rubric, and that in turn is why they belong in every assignment prompt.

Which leaves “purpose” and “advice on process.” These elements are, in a sense, the heart and engine of any assignment, but their role in a rubric will differ from assignment to assignment. Here are a couple of ways to think about each.

On the one hand, “purpose” is the rationale for how the other elements are working in an assignment, and so feedback on them adds up to feedback on the skills students are learning vis-a-vis the overall purpose. In that sense, separately grading whether students have achieved an assignment’s “purpose” can be tricky.

On the other hand, metacognitive components such as journals or cover letters or artist statements are a great way for students to tie work on their assignment to the broader (often future-oriented) reasons why they’ve been doing the assignment. Making this kind of component a small part of the overall grade, e.g., 5% and/or part of “specific guidelines,” can allow it to be a nudge toward a meaningful self-reflection for students on what they’ve been learning and how it might build toward other assignments or experiences.

Advice on process

As with “purpose,” “advice on process” often amounts to helping students break down an assignment into the elements they’ll get feedback on. In that sense, feedback on those steps is often more informal or aimed at giving students practice with skills or components that will be parts of the bigger assignment.

For those reasons, though, the kind of feedback we give students on smaller steps has its own (even if ungraded) rubric. For example, if a prompt asks students to  propose a research question as part of the bigger project, they might get feedback on whether it can be answered by evidence, or whether it has a feasible scope, or who the audience for its findings might be. All of those criteria, in turn, could—and ideally would—later be part of the rubric for the graded project itself. Or perhaps students are submitting earlier, smaller components of an assignment for separate grades; or are expected to submit separate components all together at the end as a portfolio, perhaps together with a cover letter or artist statement .

Using Rubrics Effectively

In the same way that rubrics can facilitate the design phase of assignment, they can also facilitate the teaching and feedback phases, including of course grading. Here are a few ways this can work in a course:

Discuss the rubric ahead of time with your teaching team. Getting on the same page about what students will be doing and how different parts of the assignment fit together is, in effect, laying out what needs to happen in class and in section, both in terms of what students need to learn and practice, and how the coming days or weeks should be sequenced.

Share the rubric with your students ahead of time. For the same reason it's ideal for course heads to discuss rubrics with their teaching team, it’s ideal for the teaching team to discuss the rubric with students. Not only does the rubric lay out the different skills students will learn during an assignment and which skills are more or less important for that assignment,  it means that the formative feedback they get along the way is more legible as getting practice on elements of the “bigger assignment.” To be sure, this can’t always happen. Rubrics aren’t always up and running at the beginning of an assignment, and sometimes they emerge more inductively during the feedback and grading process, as instructors take stock of what students have actually submitted. In both cases, later is better than never—there’s no need to make the perfect the enemy of the good. Circulating a rubric at the time you return student work can still be a valuable tool to help students see the relationship between the learning objectives and goals of the assignment and the feedback and grade they’ve received.

Discuss the rubric with your teaching team during the grading process. If your assignment has a rubric, it’s important to make sure that everyone who will be grading is able to use the rubric consistently. Most rubrics aren’t exhaustive—see the note above on rubrics that are “too specific”—and a great way to see how different graders are handling “real-life” scenarios for an assignment is to have the entire team grade a few samples (including examples that seem more representative of an “A” or a “B”) and compare everyone’s approaches. We suggest scheduling a grade-norming session for your teaching staff.

• Designing Your Course
• In the Classroom
• When/Why/How: Some General Principles of Responding to Student Work
• Consistency and Equity in Grading
• Assessing Class Participation
• Assessing Non-Traditional Assignments
• Beyond “the Grade”: Alternative Approaches to Assessment
• Getting Feedback
• Equitable & Inclusive Teaching
• Advising and Mentoring
• Teaching and Your Career
• Teaching Remotely
• Tools and Platforms
• The Science of Learning
• Bok Publications
• Other Resources Around Campus

• University of Memphis Libraries
• Research Guides

CJUS 3130: Research Methods

• Thesis Statement Guide/Rubric
• Required Readings/Books
• Topic Selection Guide
• Annotated Bibliography Guide/Rubric

Thesis Statements: A Brief Guide

• Research Writing Assignment Rubric
• Critical Book Review Guide/Rubric
• Interlibrary Loan

A thesis statement guides your essay by identifying both your subject and your attitude toward it. A thesis statement:

• is potentially interesting to the intended reader.
• is specific .
• limits the topic so that it is manageable .
• evolves as your thinking about the subject evolves.

Construct a working thesis.

Test the working thesis.

• Try substituting other words—if the same statement can be made about another subject, the thesis needs to be more specific.
• Ask “so what?”
• Ask “why?” and “how?” 
• Try filling in the “Magic Thesis Sentence” :

By looking at __________________, we can see ____________________, which most readers/viewers/observers don’t see; this is important because ___________________.

Revise the working thesis.

• Add information that responds to the “so what?” question to explain relevance.
• in order to
• Use active verbs
• Avoid abstract terms (e.g.  issue, aspect, society,  etc.)
• Avoid empty modifiers ( very, important,  etc.)

Use a Seed Sentence

Another way to construct a working thesis  is to start with a paradigm in the form of a “seed sentence.” These are patterns that reflect common ways of thinking about topics that are open to different perspectives. While anything constructed using one of these seeds will almost certainly need to be revised before the paper’s final version, they can provide a helpful starting point. If you choose to use sentence-paradigms to help you construct a thesis, try out several to find the best fit for your topic, idea, and assignment.

“Once I was _______________, but now I am _______________.”

“They say that _____________, but my experience [or closer examination] shows that ____________.”

Once I thought vulgar language was unforgivable, but now I feel sorry for those who express hatred by using it.

They say that people can learn from their mistakes, but my experience shows that once they learn prejudice, few people change their behavior.

“When I saw ____________, I saw ____________ instead of ______________.”

When I saw that I could fight the bullies or ignore them, I saw that fighting would be degrading while nonviolence would maintain my self-respect.

Cause and Effect:

“If _________________, then ________________."

“Because ______________, ________________." 

If we look at the way teens view bullying, then we see that current interventions devised by adults are not likely to be effective. Because I learned to ignore bullies when I was young, I can now find ways to encourage people with differing points of view to work together.

Compare/Contrast:

“Because of ____________similarities [or differences], ___________.”

Because adults and teenagers define bullying differently, the typical adult approaches to combatting the behaviors will not be effective.

Difference/Likeness (or Likeness/Difference):

“However ______________, ______________.”

However much both adults and teenagers agree that bullying behaviors damage relationships, this problem will persist until both groups begin using the same language to label the undesirable actions.

“Not only ___________________, but also _________________.”

Not only do adults want to blame technology for the problem of bullying, but they also tend to rely on ineffective solutions such as school assemblies.

Shift of Focus:

“Instead of [even though, because, etc.] _______________, we should direct attention to ________________.”

Even though these attempts to stop bullying are well-meaning, they will not be effective until they address the roots of the problem: lack of empathy and the desire for attention. 

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Honors Thesis Evaluation Rubric

This rubric is intended to provide guidelines for thesis committee members and students.

Each project should be considered individually in the context of its discipline and the thesis chair's discretion.

• Student Resources

The paper is written from the perspective of a well-informed writer. Writer has likely read at least 10-15 articles (and/or books) on the subject and has integrated at least 10 peer-reviewed sources into the paper.

The writer exhibits basic working knowledge of the subject matter. Writer has likely read 7-10 articles (and/or books) on the subject and has integrated at least 7 peer-reviewed sources into the paper.

Writer’s understanding of the subject is lacking because of a failure to read and/or comprehend significant scholarly secondary material on the subject.

Methodology is clearly and effectively designed, executed, and represented in the paper, appropriately addressing the hypothesis/thesis.

The writer makes an effort to address the hypothesis/thesis through adept design and execution of the methodology, taking into account the advice of the chair. However, the research process (or its representation in the paper) falls short.

The design, execution, and/or representation of the methodology fall notably short.

The paper forwards a valuable, appropriately narrowed, and well-articulated research hypothesis/thesis.

The paper forwards a hypothesis/thesis feasible for research, though it may not be clearly articulated and may not lead toward original or valuable findings.

The paper forwards an inappropriate hypothesis/thesis, or no clear hypothesis/thesis at all.

The paper effectively integrates well-chosen secondary sources and appropriate primary research to define, test, and/or support the project’s findings in light of the hypothesis/thesis.

The paper integrates generally pertinent secondary sources and primary research in an effort to define, test, and/or support the project’s findings in light of the hypothesis/thesis, though representation of this research may fall short of achieving the project’s purpose.

The paper fails substantially to integrate pertinent secondary and primary research to define, test, and/or support the project’s hypothesis/thesis.

The paper not only presents primary research findings, but breaks them down and examines them to determine patterns, anomalies, function, structure, and/or cause and effect. Additionally, the paper leads the reader effectively through the process used to understand the issue and test the hypothesis/thesis.

The paper not only presents primary research findings, but breaks them down and examines them to determine patterns, anomalies, function, structure; and/or cause and effect. The writer attempts to lead readers through the process used to understand the issue and test the hypothesis/thesis, though he/she falls short in significant ways.

The paper fails to provide adept analysis of primary research findings.

The writer offers insightful interpretation of the primary research, effectively leading the reader toward the writer’s final perspective on the issue.

The writer offers interpretation of the primary research, exhibiting an effort to lead readers toward his/her final perspective on the issue, though failing to do so with the desired impact.

The writer fails to interpret the primary research clearly and/or convincingly.

The writer asserts a clear thesis that controls all other ideas in the paper. It provides transitions and explanations indicating the relationships among ideas as well as their link to the thesis.

The writer asserts a relatively clear thesis that generally controls the paper. He/she attempts to tie all ideas in the paper to the thesis, though the effort may fall short of this goal.

The writer fails to assert a clear thesis and/or to indicate clearly the relationships among ideas discussed in the paper.

With few mistakes, the writer indicates sources used for the study, following the guidelines of the field-appropriate documentation style.

With some lack of control or effort, the writer documents sources used in the paper according to the field-appropriate documentation style. This effort at least indicates whose ideas are whose, and avoids plagiarism.

Writer fails to document sources used in the paper according to the field-appropriate documentation style. The paper may not make clear whose ideas are whose and /or may exhibit plagiarism.

The paper employs scholarly tone and style (or in the fine and performing arts, whichever tone and style is deemed appropriate for the project) to build the writer’s ethos and generate desired impact.

The writer attempts to employ an effective tone and style for the purpose of the paper, but falls short of that goal.

Tone and style undermine the goals of the paper.

• Library Guides
• IRWC Interactive Rubric for Written Communication
• Interactive Rubric for Written Communication

Interactive Rubric for Written Communication: Rubric

• Introduction
• 1.2. Thesis
• 1.3. Context
• 1.4. Audience
• 2.1. Information & Data
• 2.2. Conceptual Knowledge
• 2.3. Examples & Illustrations
• 2.4. Sources
• 2.4.1. Relevance
• 2.4.2. Authority
• 3.2. Evidence
• 3.3. Specificity
• 3.4. Creativity
• 3.5. Criticality
• 3.6. Reflexivity
• 3.7. Evaluation
• 4.1. Section
• 4.2. Paragraph
• 4.3. Sequence
• 4.4. Cohesive Ties
• 5.1. Clarity
• 5.2.1. Mood
• 5.2.2. Mode
• 5.2.3. Narrative Form
• 5.2.4. Voice (Active/Passive)
• 5.4. Vocabulary
• 5.4.1. Academic Vocabulary
• 5.4.2. Technical Vocabulary
• 5.4.3. Inclusive Language
• 5.5. Literary Devices
• 5.6. Referencing
• 5.6.1. Citations
• 5.6.2. Reference List
• 5.6.3. Quotations
• 5.6.4. Application
• 5.6.5. Paraphrasing & Plagiarism
• 5.7. Formatting
• 5.7.1. Font
• 5.7.2. Spacing
• 5.8. Length
• 6.1. Sentences
• 6.1.1. Fragments
• 6.1.2. Run-on Sentences
• 6.1.3. Agreement
• 6.2. Word Classes
• 6.2.1. Pronouns
• 6.2.2. Prepositions
• 6.2.3. Articles
• 6.2.4. Conjunctions
• 7.1. Spelling
• 7.2. Punctuation
• 7.2.1. Apostrophes
• 7.2.2. Full Stops
• 7.2.3. Capitalisation
• 7.2.4. Quotation Marks
• 7.2.5. Commas & Colons
• 7.2.6. Abbreviations
• 7.2.7. Other (e.g., Hyphens)
• 7.3. Editing
• Persuasive Essay
• Reflective Essay
• For Lecturers

Rubric .top_row {valgin:middle; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large; font-color: black;} .normal_text {font-size: x-small ; vertical-align:top; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-color: black; } .list {font-size: x-small; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; color:#000 } table, td, tr {vertical-align: text-top; word-wrap:break-word; table-layout:fixed; border-style:double; font-color: black; padding: 10px;}

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Judging criteria and panel

• Judging Criteria
• Judging Panel

At every level of the competition each competitor will be assessed on the judging criteria listed below. Each criterion is equally weighted and has an emphasis on audience.

Comprehension and content

• Presentation provided clear motivation, background and significance to the research question
• Presentation clearly described the research strategy/design and the results/findings of the research
• Presentation clearly described the conclusions, outcomes and impact of the research

Engagement and communication

• The oration was delivered clearly, and the language was appropriate for a non-specialist audience
• The PowerPoint slide was well-defined and enhanced the presentation
• The presenter conveyed enthusiasm for their research and captured and maintained the audience’s attention

It is recommended that the following be taken into consideration when composing the judging panel.

• Include three to five judges on your panel;
• Balance judging panel by age, gender, academic/professional positions, and discipline;
• Consider a marketing/communications member; and
• While judges should declare any conflict of interest, they should still judge each 3MT presenter’s oration, even if the presenter is from their discipline.