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An alternative approach to student assessment for engineering–laboratory learning

An alternative approach to student assessment for engineering–laboratory learning AbstractAssessment of students’ performance in laboratory activities evaluates students’ achievements and weaknesses in practical work. This is vital from both student and institutional perspectives. Practical skills assessment methods evaluate students on three major components: the ability to collect data and perform calculations, to analyse the cause of failures in the process, and finally students’ active engagement and participation in the practical work. A conventional, report-based, assessment method combined with an alternative method, termed in-class assessment, were developed and used for second-year Fluid Mechanics laboratory work. In this article, we describe these two approaches and present the results of a quantitative investigation of students’ responses. Students expressed similar experience and satisfaction levels for each of the assessment methods that measured the attainment of different but essential personal and professional skills stipulated by the professional body for students graduating with an engineering degree. These skills include the development of research skills, conceptual understanding, application of techniques, preparing a report, team working abilities and the communication skills needed to interact with peers and demonstrators effectively. This article shows that the use of in-class assessment can serve as a useful complement to conventional report-based assessment methods ensuring optimal laboratory learning for students across engineering knowledge and skills areas. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australasian Journal of Engineering Education Taylor & Francis

An alternative approach to student assessment for engineering–laboratory learning

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An alternative approach to student assessment for engineering–laboratory learning

Abstract

AbstractAssessment of students’ performance in laboratory activities evaluates students’ achievements and weaknesses in practical work. This is vital from both student and institutional perspectives. Practical skills assessment methods evaluate students on three major components: the ability to collect data and perform calculations, to analyse the cause of failures in the process, and finally students’ active engagement and participation in the practical work. A...
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2018 Engineers Australia
ISSN
1325-4340
eISSN
2205-4952
DOI
10.1080/22054952.2018.1435202
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

AbstractAssessment of students’ performance in laboratory activities evaluates students’ achievements and weaknesses in practical work. This is vital from both student and institutional perspectives. Practical skills assessment methods evaluate students on three major components: the ability to collect data and perform calculations, to analyse the cause of failures in the process, and finally students’ active engagement and participation in the practical work. A conventional, report-based, assessment method combined with an alternative method, termed in-class assessment, were developed and used for second-year Fluid Mechanics laboratory work. In this article, we describe these two approaches and present the results of a quantitative investigation of students’ responses. Students expressed similar experience and satisfaction levels for each of the assessment methods that measured the attainment of different but essential personal and professional skills stipulated by the professional body for students graduating with an engineering degree. These skills include the development of research skills, conceptual understanding, application of techniques, preparing a report, team working abilities and the communication skills needed to interact with peers and demonstrators effectively. This article shows that the use of in-class assessment can serve as a useful complement to conventional report-based assessment methods ensuring optimal laboratory learning for students across engineering knowledge and skills areas.

Journal

Australasian Journal of Engineering Education – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jul 3, 2017

Keywords: Engineering laboratories; assessment method; in-class assessment; report-based assessment; laboratory skills

References

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