Development of Rubric-Based Assessment Methodology for Student Design Projects

Education research strongly links methods of course assessment with the student learning process. In open-ended engineering design courses, assessment based on student deliverables as "product" may focus student attention on a content checklist rather than effectively learning process and techniques that are critical to professional engineering practice. By developing a rubric assessment scheme that relates directly to the course learning objectives and sharing it openly with students, it is proposed that students are more likely to achieve deeper learning on the process of engineering design. Additional learning benefits can be gained through self and peer review activities using the rubric assessment process.