Assessment Instruments
- Survey
- Rubric
An introductory materials science course will cover a wide range of topics and so will require classes from different fields as prerequisites. Additionally, introduction materials science courses are often in mechanical or chemical engineering departments so the backgrounds of the students will vary and may not meet the prerequisites. The pre course survey should be given before the course starts or at the beginning after the syllabus is covered. The pre-course survey will highlight any topics which concern the students or the instructor from the self-reported backgrounds of the student. The results from this assessment should inform the instructor where more attention should be paid in specific topics/lectures or if supplementary lectures are needed.
- What is your major/intended major?
- What year are you?
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1st
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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5th
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6th+
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- What is the highest level of chemistry you've taken (High school chemistry, Introduction to Chemistry)
- What is the highest level of physics you've taken (AP Physics I, Electromagnetism)
- When was the last time you had any interaction with this subject matter? What is your reason for taking this class now?
- What are you most excited about in this course? What are you most worried about?
This rubric is to be used for a lab report paired alongside this module. A similar rubric can be used for other forms of a lab report such as a oral presentation, poster presentation or technical memo. The course for which the module is designed is a lecture and recitation course with a lab course designed for students to experiment with materials using the concepts they have learned in the lecture course. This can be reworked to include a lab section weekly or biweekly. 3.091 'Introduction to Solid State Chemistry' was the inspiration for the course content so if a lab section were required an examination of essential course content is required to make room for the lab section. This will depend on the overall curriculum of the department where this course will be taught, and what content is deemed essential as prerequisite knowledge for following courses.
| 0 points | 1 point | 2 points | 3 points | 4 points | 5 points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microstructure effects on mechanical properties - Discuss the effects of defects and grain boundaries - Discuss how testing is done | Not discussed | Contains only some of the requested content elements (60%) | Contains many of the requested content elements (70%) | Contains most of the requested content elements (80%) | Contains all the requested content elements (90%) | Contains all the requested content elements and is organized in a logical fashion |
| Sample Preparation - why annealing, cold working was done - comparison of single and poly crystal coupons - discuss shape of coupons | Not discussed | Contains only some of the requested content elements (60%) | Contains many of the requested content elements (70%) | Contains most of the requested content elements (80%) | Contains all the requested content elements (90%) | Contains all the requested content elements and is organized in a logical fashion |
| Mechanical Measurement of elastic modulus - report elastic modulus - discussion of accuracy | Not discussed | Contains only some of the requested content elements (60%) | Contains many of the requested content elements (70%) | Contains most of the requested content elements (80%) | Contains all the requested content elements (90%) | Contains all the requested content elements and is organized in a logical fashion |
| Fracture Strain and stress - report fracture stress and strain - discussion of accuracy | Not discussed | Contains only some of the requested content elements (60%) | Contains many of the requested content elements (70%) | Contains most of the requested content elements (80%) | Contains all the requested content elements (90%) | Contains all the requested content elements and is organized in a logical fashion |
| Conclusion | Not present | Present but not effective in addressing the accomplishments of objectives | Present and contains requested information but not a strong finish due either to organization or language | Contains requested information and effectively addresses whether the objectives were achieved. | ||
| Error Analysis | Not present | Makes an attempt to use in discussing the results but not used effectively | Makes a reasonable attempt to discuss error analysis but general conclusions are inconsistent with the data as far as magnitude or direction of error | Makes a reasonable attempt to discuss error analysis but general conclusions may not be effectively substantiated | Error analysis demonstrates a strong understanding of the technique used | Error analysis demonstrates a strong understanding of the techniques used and is consistent with the data in terms of magnitude and direction of the error |
| 0 points | 1 point | 2 points | 3 points | 4 points | 5 points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paragraphs | Paper not organized effectively into paragraphs | Paragraph structure used but in general the are too long without appropriate introductory and transitional sentences | Paragraphs limited in general to one major idea but are not well connected to each other in order to improve readability | Paragraph structure is strong and each flows well into the next. | ||
| Tables, Graphs, and Supporting Information | Would have enhanced readability but not present | Present, used effectively or not necessary | ||||
| Voice | Paper does not utilize third person passive voice | Paper utilizes a mix of first and third person but is written in the past tense | Writer effectively uses third person passive voice | |||
| Grammar, Spelling, and Puncuation | Paper has so many errors that communication of content is impaired | Paper has some errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation but readability is not impaired to a great degree | Paper is largely free of errors | |||
| Conciseness | Paper contains a lot of extraneous information and does not effectively utilize technical terms | Paper contains a lot of extraneous information due largely to too much procedural detail | Paper contains a lot of extraneous information but tries to utilize the appropriate technical terminology with a focus on largely appropriate content | Most of the time the content is appropriate but not presented as concisely as it could be | The paper effectively targets the intended audience both in the amount of information and the way in which it is presented | |
| Citations | Necessary but not present | Necssary and present but not complete and/or in correct format | Necessary, accurate and correctly presented or not necessary |