I
have been a staunch supporter of open book and project based assessments. Adding
to these two, I would like to add a blog, a student-developed question bank and
lastly a real world application for each of the major components covered.
Open
Book
Somehow
too much emphasis is put on memorizing the formulae and methods involved in solving
engineering related problems. However in real life scenario an engineer will have
all the information at hand and he/she will be expected to make the best decision
for the given situation.
Project
Based
Once
again the various courses, that engineering students study, are always used in tandem
in a real life situation. Hence it would be prudent to assign students projects
where all the concepts from a variety of topics can be assessed to simulate a life
like scenario.
Blog
A
journal/diary/logbook has always been a method used by scientists and engineers
to record and share their research, findings and actions. In this day of computer
age a blog is a convenient replacement of such a document.
Student-developed
Question Bank
The
students are given the freedom to choose what they think are the most important
and useful aspects of a particular topic. The students then form questions that
they deem appropriate to encapsulate the gist of these aspects.
Real
Life use
The
students can be asked to find a use, either current or futuristic, for the core
concepts that they have learned. This idea helps them to cement the understanding
of the application of this concept in the real life.
Some great practical 'common-sensical' ideas here Atif. I particularly like the Student-developed Question Bank. What a great idea as that would really test their understanding of the subject particularly if we ask them to align their questions with Blooms taxonomy.
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