Assessment Plan and Tools
How and where on the project timeline will students be assessed
-- Students will be assessed through the use of a rubric at the end of each period time frame given for them to research and develop the sections of their final report (environmental issues, regulations, community concerns, transportation, and building materials) and their final project. These times are: environmental concerns - day 7, community concerns - day 10, materials and transportation - day 12 and government regulations - day 2.
-- The final project will be assessed through the use of a rubric at the end of the unit (days 15-17) when it is submitted by the teams
-- The project presentation will be assessed through the use of a rubric at the end of the unit (days 15-17) when it is presented to the class and subject matter experts
-- The model biofuel conversion plant will be assessed through the use of a rubric when the models are displayed and the reports are submitted - days 15-17
-- The teams will perform peer evaluations three times during the unit (days 7, 10, and 17). Peer Evaluation Worksheets or Rubrics will be used to facilitate this process.
-- Each student in the class will write a one page essay describing what they did as an individual during the project and what they learned during the project. Essay to be completed after the projects have been presented, but before the next unit is started. (Day 17)
-- Once the teams receive feedback on their designs and reports they will have until the day that they turn in the deliverables for the project.
-- The final project will be assessed through the use of a rubric at the end of the unit (days 15-17) when it is submitted by the teams
-- The project presentation will be assessed through the use of a rubric at the end of the unit (days 15-17) when it is presented to the class and subject matter experts
-- The model biofuel conversion plant will be assessed through the use of a rubric when the models are displayed and the reports are submitted - days 15-17
-- The teams will perform peer evaluations three times during the unit (days 7, 10, and 17). Peer Evaluation Worksheets or Rubrics will be used to facilitate this process.
-- Each student in the class will write a one page essay describing what they did as an individual during the project and what they learned during the project. Essay to be completed after the projects have been presented, but before the next unit is started. (Day 17)
-- Once the teams receive feedback on their designs and reports they will have until the day that they turn in the deliverables for the project.
Detailed plan with examples of how assessments will provide feedback to students and enable them to revise and create better products
The teacher will provide feedback on the team plant designs and report sections after each section has been completed by the students. The teacher will use the rubrics for the incremental checks for the report and the design to prepare the feedback for the students and compute point values for that assignment. The students will then review the feedback and use it to revisee their projects and improve them. This will happen on the following days - days 2, 7, 10, 12, 17.
In addition, the students will provide peer feedback on the projects at two different points during the unit using the peer feedback rubric or the peer review worksheet.
In addition, the students will provide peer feedback on the projects at two different points during the unit using the peer feedback rubric or the peer review worksheet.
Samples of a variety of assessment tools, includng assessments of content, student processes, and student products
Content Assessment -
The presentation rubric, incremental design rubric, final design rubric, incremental report rubric, final report rubric and subject matter expert rubric are all used as content assessments.
Student Processes -
The peer evaluation worksheet or peer evaluation rubric, engineering notebook guide and reflection rubric are alll used to assess the student processes.
Student Products -
The presentation rubric, design rubric, report rubric, and model rubric are used to assess the 4 main products that the students are required to create in the unit.
Formative Assessments -
The incremental design rubric, incremental report rubric, peer evaluation worksheet, engineering notebook guide, and reflection rubric are used as formative assessments throughout the unit.
Summative Assessments -
The presentation rubric, final design rubric, final report rubric, subject matter expert rubric, and peer evaluation are all used as summative assessments.
The presentation rubric, incremental design rubric, final design rubric, incremental report rubric, final report rubric and subject matter expert rubric are all used as content assessments.
Student Processes -
The peer evaluation worksheet or peer evaluation rubric, engineering notebook guide and reflection rubric are alll used to assess the student processes.
Student Products -
The presentation rubric, design rubric, report rubric, and model rubric are used to assess the 4 main products that the students are required to create in the unit.
Formative Assessments -
The incremental design rubric, incremental report rubric, peer evaluation worksheet, engineering notebook guide, and reflection rubric are used as formative assessments throughout the unit.
Summative Assessments -
The presentation rubric, final design rubric, final report rubric, subject matter expert rubric, and peer evaluation are all used as summative assessments.
Detailed description of how the final assessment will evaluate the following:
The final assessment will include assessments for the final design for the biomass coversion plant, the teams final report, the team presentation, and the 3-Dimensional model. These rubrics can be found on the Assessment Tools page.
Final Project Report Rubric
Content Knowledge - The project report will be checked through to see if the students have effective descriptions for the five topics that will be researched and worked with during this project (building materials, environmental concerns, community concerns, government regulations, transportation). The teacher should be looking for amount of and use of the content that the teams have written up, the number of sources needs to be reviewed, and sources should be checked for validity and to verify that they have enough resources. These are both included on the rubric for the final report rubric. The teacher needs to verify that all design features in the design are described in the report.
Final Product - The teacher should be looking overall at the quality of the report that the students have compiled. Items that should be evaluated include spelling and grammar. These are both included on the rubric for the final report. The teachers should also be looking at the flow of the document to see if there is a logical flow to the document. Reports should also have an introduction and closing section.
Processes used by the student - Processes that the students have used for research will be evaluated with this rubric when the teacher looks at the quality of the information that was found for a particular topic and in the validity of the resources that were found in the internet searchs.
Skills developed by Students (including 21st century skills) - 21st century skills that are assessed within this rubric include the following -
Communicate Clearly - this is assesed by looking at the flow of the document, grammar and spelling found in the document, and is the amount of content in the document effectively describe the final product and and changes that were made to it.
Collaboration - This is done inherently with this rubric because the students will have collaborated in documenting the research that the team completed and in working together as they decided what changes needed to be made to the plant design in response to issues and concerns.
Reason Effectively & Solve Problems - The students skill in reasoning will be assessed when the teacher looks at the rationale for any changes made to the plant design in response to issues and concerns noted during research.
Plant Design Rubric
Content knowledge – The teacher will be assessing how the content described in the final project report (original design and any changes that were implemented into the design the students created on the computer) has been implemented into the computer model.
Final product – Is the drawing complete or is there material or changes missing from the computer file?
Processes used by the student – Not assessed in this rubric because the focus is on implementing the design ideas and needed changes into the design and not on how it is done
Skills developed by students (including 21st century skills) – proficiency in using the software used to draw the design on the computer,
Think Creatively – based on how well the drawing implements the design the team members come up with
Reason Effectively & Solve Problems - The students skill in reasoning will be assessed when the teacher looks at the rationale for any changes made to the plant design in response to issues and concerns noted during research.
Presentation Rubric
Content Knowledge - The presentation will be checked to see if enough material has been included to effectively described the five topics that were researched and worked with during this project (building materials, environmental concerns, community concerns, government regulations, transportation). The amount of and use of the content that the teams have written up, the number of sources needs to be reviewed, and sources should be checked for validity and to verify that they have enough resources are all a part of this process.
Final Product - The teacher should be looking overall at the quality of the presentation that the students have created and presented. Spelling and grammar are to be assessed. The teachers should also be looking at the flow of the document to see if there is a logical flow to the presentation. Presentations should also have an introduction and closing section. When assessing the presentation, teachers should also be assessing the presentation skills that the students exhibit when presenting this to the class (for example: how they speak, were there a lot of starts/stops, empty time)
Processes used by the student - Could be inherent to this rubric if the students talk about the processes that they used to complete the project.
Skills developed by Students (including 21st century skills) - 21st century skills that are assessed within this rubric include the following -
Communicate Clearly - this is assessed by looking at the flow of the presentation, grammar and spelling found in it, does the content in the presentation effectively describe the final product and and changes that were made to it, timing of the presentation and how the students, and how they actually present the information to the class.
Collaboration - This is done inherently with this rubric because the students will have collaborated in documenting the research that the team completed and in working together as they decided what changes needed to be made to the plant design in response to issues and concerns.
Reason Effectively & Solve Problems - This is done inherently with this rubric when they describe the solutions that they found for concerns and issues.
Model Rubric
This rubric will assess the following:
Content Knowledge - Was the model representative of the final design?
Final Product --> the quality of the model built by the team is one of the things that will be assessed here. For example, has the model sturdy, or is it falling apart.
Processes used by the students --> nothing explicitly assessed for processes used by the students
Skills developed by students --> The following 21st Century skills are assessed in the course of assessing the model:
Think Creatively - do the materials used for the model fit the design? Does the model resemble the design?
Final Project Report Rubric
Content Knowledge - The project report will be checked through to see if the students have effective descriptions for the five topics that will be researched and worked with during this project (building materials, environmental concerns, community concerns, government regulations, transportation). The teacher should be looking for amount of and use of the content that the teams have written up, the number of sources needs to be reviewed, and sources should be checked for validity and to verify that they have enough resources. These are both included on the rubric for the final report rubric. The teacher needs to verify that all design features in the design are described in the report.
Final Product - The teacher should be looking overall at the quality of the report that the students have compiled. Items that should be evaluated include spelling and grammar. These are both included on the rubric for the final report. The teachers should also be looking at the flow of the document to see if there is a logical flow to the document. Reports should also have an introduction and closing section.
Processes used by the student - Processes that the students have used for research will be evaluated with this rubric when the teacher looks at the quality of the information that was found for a particular topic and in the validity of the resources that were found in the internet searchs.
Skills developed by Students (including 21st century skills) - 21st century skills that are assessed within this rubric include the following -
Communicate Clearly - this is assesed by looking at the flow of the document, grammar and spelling found in the document, and is the amount of content in the document effectively describe the final product and and changes that were made to it.
Collaboration - This is done inherently with this rubric because the students will have collaborated in documenting the research that the team completed and in working together as they decided what changes needed to be made to the plant design in response to issues and concerns.
Reason Effectively & Solve Problems - The students skill in reasoning will be assessed when the teacher looks at the rationale for any changes made to the plant design in response to issues and concerns noted during research.
Plant Design Rubric
Content knowledge – The teacher will be assessing how the content described in the final project report (original design and any changes that were implemented into the design the students created on the computer) has been implemented into the computer model.
Final product – Is the drawing complete or is there material or changes missing from the computer file?
Processes used by the student – Not assessed in this rubric because the focus is on implementing the design ideas and needed changes into the design and not on how it is done
Skills developed by students (including 21st century skills) – proficiency in using the software used to draw the design on the computer,
Think Creatively – based on how well the drawing implements the design the team members come up with
Reason Effectively & Solve Problems - The students skill in reasoning will be assessed when the teacher looks at the rationale for any changes made to the plant design in response to issues and concerns noted during research.
Presentation Rubric
Content Knowledge - The presentation will be checked to see if enough material has been included to effectively described the five topics that were researched and worked with during this project (building materials, environmental concerns, community concerns, government regulations, transportation). The amount of and use of the content that the teams have written up, the number of sources needs to be reviewed, and sources should be checked for validity and to verify that they have enough resources are all a part of this process.
Final Product - The teacher should be looking overall at the quality of the presentation that the students have created and presented. Spelling and grammar are to be assessed. The teachers should also be looking at the flow of the document to see if there is a logical flow to the presentation. Presentations should also have an introduction and closing section. When assessing the presentation, teachers should also be assessing the presentation skills that the students exhibit when presenting this to the class (for example: how they speak, were there a lot of starts/stops, empty time)
Processes used by the student - Could be inherent to this rubric if the students talk about the processes that they used to complete the project.
Skills developed by Students (including 21st century skills) - 21st century skills that are assessed within this rubric include the following -
Communicate Clearly - this is assessed by looking at the flow of the presentation, grammar and spelling found in it, does the content in the presentation effectively describe the final product and and changes that were made to it, timing of the presentation and how the students, and how they actually present the information to the class.
Collaboration - This is done inherently with this rubric because the students will have collaborated in documenting the research that the team completed and in working together as they decided what changes needed to be made to the plant design in response to issues and concerns.
Reason Effectively & Solve Problems - This is done inherently with this rubric when they describe the solutions that they found for concerns and issues.
Model Rubric
This rubric will assess the following:
Content Knowledge - Was the model representative of the final design?
Final Product --> the quality of the model built by the team is one of the things that will be assessed here. For example, has the model sturdy, or is it falling apart.
Processes used by the students --> nothing explicitly assessed for processes used by the students
Skills developed by students --> The following 21st Century skills are assessed in the course of assessing the model:
Think Creatively - do the materials used for the model fit the design? Does the model resemble the design?
Detailed descriptions of how the final assessments will focus on both team products and individual learning
Team products will be assessed through the rubrics for the plant design (incremental and final), final report (incremental and final), and 3-D model. The grade from these will be given to all team members.
Individual learning will be assessed through the final assessment of an essay where the students talk about the individual work that they did themselves for the project and what they learned. In addition, Engineering Notebook checks and Daily Reflection Checks will be performed periodically.
Individual learning will be assessed through the final assessment of an essay where the students talk about the individual work that they did themselves for the project and what they learned. In addition, Engineering Notebook checks and Daily Reflection Checks will be performed periodically.
Timeline includes opportunities for feedback from peers and teacher
-- Students will give peer feedback to their team members three times during the course of the unit on day 8, 13 and day 17. They will use either the peer feedback sheet or the peer review rubric for this.
-- The teachers will give feedback to the students through the semester through the use of engineering notebook checks, reflection checks, assessments of what they have written for the report sections and the design as the students work through the topics. These reviews occur on days 2, 7, and 10.
-- The teachers will give feedback to the students through the semester through the use of engineering notebook checks, reflection checks, assessments of what they have written for the report sections and the design as the students work through the topics. These reviews occur on days 2, 7, and 10.
Timeline and assessments require student revision of work based on peer and teacher feedback
The teams will be required to submit what they write up for each of the five topics at the end of the time alloted for them to complete the initial work on it. Once submitted, the teacher will use the incremental report and incremental design rubrics to review the content each team has created. Rubric is designed to provide feedback for the students and enable them to revise the work as needed before the final report is compiled.
Sample assessments for content, student processes, and student products; Rubrics or other devices that clearly communicate expectations for student products
All assessments that are used in this unit are linked on the Assessment Tools page.
Detailed plan for how students will present their products publically
- Who will be involved -
- All students in each team will be expected to present content in the presentation of their project to the class
- Each student should be presenting an equivelent amount of time - for example, 3 students on a team
and a 10 minute presentation would mean that each should be talking for approximately 3 minutes in length
- The subject matter experts that spoke to the class early in the process will be invited back to observe the presentations
- School administrators (principal, VP) may also be invited to observe the presentations and give feedback
- What the presention is to include -
- A high level overview of the project stating what the teams were tasked with doing
- A picture of their final biomass conversion plant design and description of the design
- A compilation of the information found during research on the topics of environmental requirements, issues and concerns, governmental regulations, community concerns and issues, transportation, and building materials
- A discusson of the issues and concerns that were found when they were researching the various topics over the course of the project including: environmental issues and concerns, governmental regulations (community, state, federal), community concerns and issues, transportation concerns, and materials and building concerns
- A discussion of how they resolved any issues that they found when doing their research - e.g. team discussed and gained consensus
- A discussion of how the issue resolutions affect the design of the biomass conversion plant
- Bibliography
- How will it be setup -
- Students will make their final presentations to the class
- Presentations will be set up to run on the teacher's laptop and will either be displayed on a screen or smart board
- The subject matter experts (SME's) that spoke to the classes at the beginning of the unit will be invited to view the presentation and give the students feedback on their presentations
- SME's and other members of the community that watch the presentations will be asked to complete the Subject Expert Matter Rubric to give feedback to the students
- If the SME's are not able to be present when the presentations are given, then they will be given the opportunity to view the presentations offline. Presentations could be posted on VoiceThread for later viewing or sent by email.
- Other members of the community at large or school administration may also be invited to view the student presentations
- All students in each team will be expected to present content in the presentation of their project to the class
- Each student should be presenting an equivelent amount of time - for example, 3 students on a team
and a 10 minute presentation would mean that each should be talking for approximately 3 minutes in length
- The subject matter experts that spoke to the class early in the process will be invited back to observe the presentations
- School administrators (principal, VP) may also be invited to observe the presentations and give feedback
- What the presention is to include -
- A high level overview of the project stating what the teams were tasked with doing
- A picture of their final biomass conversion plant design and description of the design
- A compilation of the information found during research on the topics of environmental requirements, issues and concerns, governmental regulations, community concerns and issues, transportation, and building materials
- A discusson of the issues and concerns that were found when they were researching the various topics over the course of the project including: environmental issues and concerns, governmental regulations (community, state, federal), community concerns and issues, transportation concerns, and materials and building concerns
- A discussion of how they resolved any issues that they found when doing their research - e.g. team discussed and gained consensus
- A discussion of how the issue resolutions affect the design of the biomass conversion plant
- Bibliography
- How will it be setup -
- Students will make their final presentations to the class
- Presentations will be set up to run on the teacher's laptop and will either be displayed on a screen or smart board
- The subject matter experts (SME's) that spoke to the classes at the beginning of the unit will be invited to view the presentation and give the students feedback on their presentations
- SME's and other members of the community that watch the presentations will be asked to complete the Subject Expert Matter Rubric to give feedback to the students
- If the SME's are not able to be present when the presentations are given, then they will be given the opportunity to view the presentations offline. Presentations could be posted on VoiceThread for later viewing or sent by email.
- Other members of the community at large or school administration may also be invited to view the student presentations
Evaluation and feedback tools that will be used by various people to provide feedback to the students
Subject Matter Experts and other outside personnel that are invited to view the student presentations will be asked to review the presentations. To accomplish they will use the Subject Matter Expert rubric. If the experts are not able to attend the presentations in person, then there are several options that could be used to allow feedback from them on the student presentations. This includes posting the actual presentations on VoiceThread so that they could be viewed at a later time, or sending them to the experts and allowing them to view them off-line and then providing feedback. Both of these options would allow public posting of the student presentations. In addition, other members of the community at large could also be invited to view the presentations and provide feedback.