Evaluating student teams developing unique industry projects

Abstract

Real industry projects and teamwork can have a great impact on student learning and commitment, but provision of these features also produces significant challenges for academic assessment. This paper describes an approach to evaluate teams and individuals who develop unique industry projects. The paper documents several years of experimentation with different approaches, including both failures and refinements to successful approaches. The final approach adopted allows application of the same criteria to all students even though they are working on different projects. It structures individual accountability to ensure all members of a team contribute. Assessment data is collected from multiple assessors linking them to the learning outcomes and providing the students with an understanding of personal strengths and weaknesses.