Physical science laboratory report rubric update

The rubric used to mark physical science laboratory reports was created circa 2007 with modifications and edits occurring over the next ten years. 


By 2021 the rubric had 16 criteria each worth up to five points for 80 possible points per laboratory report. The rating scale varied for each criteria and included specific language related to the rating. The result was a complex rubric that led to students focussing more on meeting format requirements than on the science being investigated in the laboratory.

This was evidenced by course student learning outcome SC 130.3 consistently underperforming other course learning outcomes.

SC 130.3 Generate mathematical models for physical science systems and use appropriate mathematical techniques and concepts to obtain quantitative solutions to problems in physical science.

In an effort to surface science content and mathematical models more clearly, a simpler rubric was developed.

Rubric in Google Sheets

The result is a 45 point rubric with a tighter focus on the science content, analysis, and discussion. The ratings scale has also been cleaned up and made symmetric, reducing the reading and comprehension load on the students. 

Prior lab eleven assignment in Canvas

In addition, the laboratory assignments have also been simplified and focused. Some of the framework provided previously in the assignment is now provided in class.

Revised laboratory eleven prompt

Note that the report section stays essentially the same from report to report for reports on systems with mathematical models being investigated. Each assignment is reduced to a set of question prompts that the students are to introduce in the Introduction and then respond to in the Discussion and Conclusion. The equipment list and procedure were eliminated. Both had specific format requirements. In focusing on getting sections such as these two in the correct format, the students lost focus on the science being explored in the laboratory. Prompts for every laboratory are also available as a single list.

The course with the simplified rubrics and new laboratory assignment structure is available in the Instructure Canvas Commons as SC 130 Physical Science summer session structure. More complete descriptions of each laboratory are available in the Canvas Pages for the course. In addition a new web site is under development to provide support for the course.


Note for instructors at the source institution, the course learning outcomes in the rubric were imported from the institutional bank of courses learning outcomes as covered in a video.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plotting polar coordinates in Desmos and a vector addition demonstrator

Image
In an earlier post I noted that Desmos did not directly plot polar coordinates. Not only was I incorrect, but Desmos responded to my blog to correct me! Although I had at some point seen that one could define a function f(x)=3x+5 and then have Desmos calculate f(6), I had not absorbed how this might be used to plot polar coordinates. The above works beautifully . Realizing that I could effectively program Desmos, I applied this thinking to demonstrating how to add two vectors when given the magnitudes m and the direction angles theta. The graph calculates the i and j components for the two vectors and then adds the vectors, graphically displaying the result while also providing information on the magnitude and direction of the vector sum. m1 and theta1 are the magnitude and direction angle for one of the two vectors, m2 and theta2 are the magnitude and direction for the other vector. All four are dynamically interactive and can be changed. The diagram purports to illustra...
Read more

Traditional food dishes of Micronesia

Image
Clara, Jennette, and Joanie presented ground hard taro cooked in an umw, effectively a hot rock oven. Pohnpeian: rotama. Pingelapese: sero. Mwoakillese: rodma. Mortlockese: Amahd. Kosrae: rodoma. After cooking in an umw the rotama is pounded with the petiole of a palm frond. Rotama is made from hard or swamp taro, known as mwahng on Pohnpei, mweian on Pingalap, pula in Mortlockese, and pahsruhk on Kosrae. In traditional times on the outer islands the women had primary responsibility for tending the taro while the men handled fishing and climbing tasks. Joesen and Noeleen presented fermented breadfruit from the outer islands of Yap such as Woleai and Eauripik. The raw ingredients were actually brought in from Yap, Noeleen prepared the maare.  The leaf wrap is ti leaf - Cordyline fruticosa. Pauleen, Barnson, Trisha, Verginia, Con-ray, and Maylanda from Kitti, Pohnpei brought in mahi umw, koahpnoair koakihr, and uht sukusuk. Above is breadfruit umw, mahi umw, o...
Read more

Setting up a boxplot chart in Google Sheets with multiple boxplots on a single chart

Image
The  Google Statistics  add-on for Google Sheets can display multiple boxplots in a single chart. The key is the layout of the data. One column should be the variable by which the data is to be grouped, the other column should be the data to be box plotted. Set up the Statistics add-on with the data to be plotted as the variable, and the grouping column as the "by" variable. In this image I had deselected all but the boxplot option, the result was the appearance of the Moment, Standard errors, and Confidence intervals options. The default is apparently a 95% confidence interval for the mean. The result is multiple boxplots on a single chart with a common scale. The new tab that is created also quotes 95% confidence intervals for the mean. Note that as of 2018 the Google Statistics add-on cannot be found by search in the add-ons. In addition, as of May 2018 the add-on no longer verifies, possibly due to the add-on not having been updated since August 2017. One may ha...
Read more