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Session 1630

Developing and using rubrics to evaluate subjective Engineering laboratory and design reports

Rebecca Sidler Kellogg, J. Adin Mann, Ann Dieterich Iowa State University

Abstract

In the past two years several faculty in Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Iowa State University have been utilizing rubrics to evaluate student work in laboratory courses as well as the engineering design course sequence. The laboratory course had primarily sophomores and the design course sequence were graduating seniors. Developing rubrics is not an easy task and requires iteration and patience. This paper will discuss how the rubrics were developed and refined. Observations and feedback from faculty and teaching assistants who are using the rubrics will be presented along with summative surveys data from the students. The faculty and teaching assistants uniformly appreciated the rubrics to ensure uniform grading and as a means to describe standards for completing assignments. The survey results from the students however show a difference between the group of primarily sophomores and the group of seniors who were graded using rubrics. The seniors were almost uniformly positive about the rubrics and even asked for rubrics while the sophomores were less satisfied with the rubrics. The results of the survey are presented and discussed along with changes that are being implemented to address student concerns.

Introduction

In the past two years several faculty in Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Iowa State University have been utilizing rubrics to evaluate student work in laboratory courses as well as the engineering design course sequence. These courses require students to prepare written and sometimes oral technical reports. These forms of communication, which are very important to the professional engineer, have often perplexed students who were unsure of the format and requirements of technical reports. Faculty, in turn, was faced with the overwhelming task of objectively evaluating work product of a very subjective nature. The use of rubrics appeared to be a practical solution to the dilemma encountered in these courses.

Rubrics are a form of authentic assessment that can be used on an ongoing basis during the teaching and learning process. A rubric is a matrix-like tool where the left-most column generally houses the desired performance skills or characteristics sought listed in the rows. The next column contains the criteria corresponding to the highest demonstration of each skill or characteristic. Each subsequent column contains criteria for lesser levels of performance.

Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2001, American Society for Engineering Education

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Sidler Kellogg, R., & Mann, J. A., & Dieterich, A. (2001, June), Developing And Using Rubrics To Evaluate Subjective Engineering Laboratory And Design Reports Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--9105