Methods of Assessment

The students will be expected to submit one or a number of the following at the completion of each project: a poster, a report, an oral presentation or an html web page. This work will be assessed to generate a group mark out of 10.

Each individual's performance will be reviewed using the peer review process to generate an individual scaling factor for each student. This is done by each student completing a peer assessment form at the conclusion of each project. This is to be handed in to the tutor at the assessment meeting.

The tutor is responsible for moderating the individual scaling factor generated from the peer review process. This should reflect each individual performance with consideration to the feedback from the students. Each tutor should then complete a group assessment form for their group which should be handed over to the case group champion.

The champion will collate all the group marks and the scaling factors and generate the individual marks for the study.

Tutors should note that the individual performance marks should not alter the average mark obtained by the group. Therefore the average of the multipliers for the whole group must be 1.00. So for example if you want to award a higher mark a member of the group then one or more members marks must be reduced by a similar amount.

Suggested scaling multipliers are:

• Absent - 0.0
• Poor - 0.75
• Average - 1.0
• Good - 1.1
• Excellent - 1.3
  

Typical individual mark = [(report + presentation)/2] x individual scaling factor

As an individual in the group, it is essential that you demonstrate:

• Ability to analyse
• Inventiveness
• Critical ability
• Theoretical knowledge
• Practical skills as well as your group contributions which may be:
• Role as a chairman
• Role as a minutes secretary
• Role as writer
• Role as group member

Writing Reports

A single submission for each group, which will always be 4 pages or less in length, is frequently (but not always) expected for a case study. The report should be:

• Structured
• Include details of any experimental work undertaken
• Include plots/tables of all the essential discoveries during the investigation

Presentations

Frequently you will be asked to carry out a group presentation on your findings. Typically only 1-3 members should actually make the presentation. But throughout the year, every student will be expected to have presented their findings at least once. Presentations will be restricted to 12 minutes each, with 5 minutes for questions. Powerpoint presentations are allowed, but they must be emailed to the case group champion before 10am on the day of the presentation to ensure that it can be downloaded onto a departmental laptop well in advance of the meeting. Immediate feedback will be provided on your team performance once all the groups have presented their findings.

Posters

Occasionally, the assessment will be based upon a poster presentation. This should be clear, concise, attractive, and easy to read. Facilities for printing up to A1 size posters will be provided by the department. Again, only a single poster should be submitted per group.

Web Resources

Occasionally, you may be asked to create a web based report to explain your findings. This should incorporate colourful graphics and should be easy to navigate. Again, only a single report per group should be handed in to the case study champion on either a floppy disc or CD ROM disc. All reports will be assessed once they have been loaded onto the departmental server.

Design and Build-Based Studies

Occasionally, you will be asked to make a device or structure as part of the case study. This must be submitted at the end of the study period for either evaluation or testing.