Tips: Assessment matrices for grades in laboratory elements

It is difficult to assess laboratory elements and oral examinations in a practically manageable and legally secure manner. Traditionally, the assessment criterion for laboratory elements has only been a requirement for active participation, while the written laboratory report is what is graded. Thus, the practical part is in principle not grade-based, despite the fact that laboratory skills and procedural knowledge may be a central part of the subject content. In this project, the teachers have investigated whether assessment matrices can be a way to make these elements assessable.

The development project has been carried out in the course Organic Chemistry B where students individually plan, carry out and evaluate a laboratory project. The assessment matrices specify which qualities are sought and will be assessed. They are structured on the basis that the difference in different grade levels is not increased complexity, but a grading of increased quality in relation to specific learning objectives.

Bedömningsmatriser i praktiken: Ett exempel från en laborativ kemikurs (Assessment matrices in practice: An example from a laboratory chemistry course)

Presenters: Jörgen Samuelsson and Torodd Lunde, Department of Engineering and Chemical Sciences (22 min.) (only in Swedish)

The presentation was held at UPE’s conference Från campus till online 2020 (From campus to online 2020).

References

Samuelsson, J., & Lunde, T. (2021). Bedömningsmatriser i praktiken. Ett exempel från en laborativ kemikurs. I N. Jakobsson & C. Vikström (Red.), Bidrag från universitetspedagogisk konferens 2020 (pdf) (Contribution from the University Pedagogical Conference 2020) (p. 33–52). Universitetspedagogiska enheten Karlstads universitet. (only in Swedish)