Assessment weighting evaluation

This is a teaching related research project.

Evaluation of the assessment weightings for outcome-based projects for final year engineering undergraduates

Brief:

This study aims to describe the evaluation and development of outcome based project assessment weighting factors by relating the subject assessment results and the students’ overall academic performance. In particular, weighting factors for deliverables included in a project based subjects of the Department of Building Services Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, i.e. project portfolio, verbal progress report, presentation and written reports (grouped or/and individual basis), were determined by the maximization of correlation between the subject marks and overall academic performance of the students in terms of Grade Point Average (GPA). In practice, as the weighting factors of assessment sub-components played an important role in determining the final course marks, they must be carefully determined and examined by a panel of experts before launching a course. A suggested approach is to maximize the rank correlation between the students’ course mark and their overall academic performance. Determining the optimal way of assessment is beneficial to both students and facilitators. It can provide a consistent and objective measure of students’ performance; in consequence, comparisons of students’ grades across different years can reflect true differences, and not differences in the evaluator’s subjective judgment. It allows assessors to strictly follow the developed protocol for assessment, which can optimally reflect the students’ academic performance.

Related works:

Correlation between test and examination.

Further Information:

Wong LT, Mui KW, To WTD, 2005. Assessment weighting of design project-based (DPB) subjects for engineering education, UNESCO, World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education 4(2) 215-218.

Mui KW, Wong LT, Kam WY, 2007. Evaluation of the assessment weightings for individual outcome-based projects for final year engineering undergraduates, UNESCO, World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education 6(1) 17-20.

Wong LT, Mui KW, To WTD, 2006. Assessment weighting of final year design project for engineering education, Proceedings of the CIB W89 International Conference on Building Education and Research BEAR 2006-Construction Sustainability and Innovation, Theme 1: Education in the Built Environment, 1.4 Performance in the built environment, International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction, Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel, 10-13 April, Hong Kong.