Implementation and Effect of Rubrics in Capstone Design Courses

This paper demonstrates the implementation of a two-dimensional rubric system into capstone-level design courses as the preferred method for assigning and evaluating students’ design work. The rubric is based on the ICE (Ideas, Connections, and Extensions) learning and application levels, having been expanded from the basic one-dimensional rubric into two dimensions to further resolve each rank (level of application) into skill levels of learning of a given concept (i.e., a design project element), with qualitative descriptors summarizing the requirements for each skill level versus rank coordinate in the rubric that an element is applied to justify the assigned grade. These rubrics provide guidance to students in how to address the design requirements for maximum possible marks and also assist instructors with clearly defining the design requirements. The developed rubrics are applicable to other upper year undergraduate and graduate level courses featuring a major design project with minor modifications. Their usefulness was evident in the observed improvement of students’ grades over the last three years. For capstone courses, a multi-dimensional rubric is more versatile, providing instructors with a greater choice of assigning grade levels to evaluate student performance for a given element of the design project.