Red Shell · Common Errors

All mistakes/Section 6: The subjective block

6.2Too few subjective criteria, or too much weight on them

Costs pointsRubric Criteria - Subjective Block Scope

The mistake

The subjective block holds fewer than ten criteria, or more than 30% of the total weight. Either alone is the error.

Do this instead

Add a criterion for each region nothing grades. Over the cap, add the objective checks your prompts call for, then lower overstated subjective weights.

Where it happened

2 real tasks. Each shows the spot and what it should have been; click any line to open the task there.

the words at faultthe row or field at faultmissing from the taskwhat is righta task file

Example 30Property & Space · 5 Leg A turns

What is wrongThe subjective block carries 32 of 103 absolute weight, 31.1%, over the 30% cap. Its twelve criteria clear the count of ten; the weight alone is the error.

The objective block holds 21 criteria worth 71 absolute weight; the subjective block holds 12 worth 32, with subjective criteria 1 and 2 at +5.

Where it shows

Subjective block: 32 of 103 absolute weight, 31.1%, over the 30% cap.

What it should have been

One +5 lowered to +3: 30 of 101, 29.7%, with almost no margin.

How it breaks the standardSigns ignored, so subjective criterion 11's -3 counts as 3: 32 over 103 is 31.1%. Twelve criteria clear the count of ten, so the weight alone breaks the cap, and 1.1 points over is still over. No single row is wrong; only dividing the sums shows it. It costs points.

The rule it breaksQC spec appendix · Multi-Turn Authoring Standards · Writing Subjective Rubrics block capped at 30% of total task weight. Signs are ignored on both sides of the division.

Example 31Property & Space · 4 Leg A turns

What is wrongThe subjective block holds five criteria, where the Guidelines expect ten or more, and none grades the cutting diagrams or the scribe plan Leg A turn 1 asks for.

Leg A turn 1 asks for front_room_builtin.html: a cut list in mm, how to scribe the edges that meet the wall and ceiling, and a cutting diagram for each sheet.

Where it shows

Five criteria, where the Guidelines expect ten or more.
Nothing grades how the cutting diagrams or the scribe plan read.

What it should have been

Ten or more, region by region, each naming front_room_builtin.html, the cutting diagrams and the scribe plan included.

How it breaks the standardObjective criteria 14 and 25 check the parts in the three cutting diagrams, and objective criterion 13 that the scribe plan names the part at each edge. No subjective criterion looks at how either reads, so an unreadable diagram scores the same as a clear one. It costs points.

The rule it breaksGuidelines · 8.1 Writing Subjective Rubrics The expected number of subjective rubrics is 10 or more

Catch it in your own task

Count the rows, ten at least, and divide the subjective weight by the total, signs ignored.

Where the correct guidance is written

Section titles as they print, so you can search for them in the document.

Guidelines · 8.1 Writing Subjective Rubrics

The expected number of subjective rubrics is 10 or more, but do not optimize for the count itself.

QC spec appendix · Multi-Turn Authoring Standards · Writing Subjective Rubrics

Same weight set {-5, -3, -1, +1, +3, +5}; block capped at 30% of total task weight.

Signs are ignored on both sides of the division.

Why it matters

The cap keeps the score dominated by deterministic checks. Over it, presentation judgments start to crowd out whether the task was done. Under the count, the block cannot cover a multi panel deliverable: a nested table, a timeline strip or a set of diagrams goes ungraded, and two runs presenting the same correct figures very differently score the same.

Every example taken apart, with the task, how it breaks the standard and what it should have been: 6.2 Too few subjective criteria, or too much weight on them, in the explanations →