STTR Phase I: Spiral Assessment Loop for Rubrics

这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目旨在改进教育评估标准。认证需要充分的评估标准来证实预期的学生成果。由于缺乏经验和缺乏适当的工具，教师们难以确定结果和规则。我们的第一个研究目标是积累和分类预期的结果，包括常见的评估技术，例如调查、投资组合和项目，以及评估是否超出、满足或未满足预期的相关规则。分类导致第二个目标，定义结果到规则的多对多映射。第三个目标启动结果、规则和映射的受控定制，以获得更好的评估覆盖范围，并满足持续评估改进的认证目标。建议的工作定义了基于软件工程的螺旋模型的SALR（规则的螺旋评估循环），以生成、测试和评估评估规则。SALR使用结果分类本体，从结果到规则的映射与当前的成就评估相结合，以确定所需的更改。预期的结果是记录的结果分类，评估技术和计算机科学和一些更广泛的工程科学的规则，基于本体论的结果到规则的映射，以及用于商业开发的螺旋评估循环原型。大学可以从基于软件的规则开发和评估中受益，并扩展到学院水平。以课程为基础的标准可以立即通知教师评估问题和需要改进的地方。商业软件可以在学期、考试或项目的基础上提供快速简便的存储、检索和评估。学生通过在关键的教育方面取得成功而得到很好的服务。有了基于表现的标准，学生们就能理解期望以及如何达到这些期望。没有明确的期望，所有人都可能对失败的结果感到惊讶。不幸的是，在高等教育中很少有人知道如何构建适当的规则。目前的工具不能扩展到大学水平。因此，规则必须经常裁剪或从头创建。因此，这项研究和开发工作可以消除评估的障碍，有利于教师和学生对成功成果的理解。

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase 1 project seeks to improve educational assessment rubrics. Accreditation requires adequate assessment rubrics to substantiate expected student outcomes. Faculty struggle with specifying outcomes and their rubrics, due to inexperience and lack of proper tools. Our first research objective is to accumulate and classify expected outcomes, including common assessment techniques, e.g. survey, portfolio, and projects, and associated rubrics to evaluate if expectations are exceeded, met, or not met. Classification leads to the second objective defining a many-to-many mapping of outcomes to rubrics. The third objective initiates controlled customization of outcomes, rubrics, and mappings for better evaluation coverage and to satisfy accreditation goals for continuous assessment improvement. The proposed effort defines SALR (Spiral Assessment Loop for Rubrics), based on the spiral model for software engineering, to generate, test, and evaluate assessment rubrics. SALR uses the resulting outcome classification ontology from which the mapping of outcomes to rubrics emerges coupled with current evaluations of achievement to determine needed changes. The anticipated results are documented classification of outcomes, assessment techniques and rubrics for computer science and some broader engineering sciences, ontologically based mappings of outcomes to rubrics, and spiral assessment loop prototype for commercial development.Universities can benefit from software-based rubrics development and evaluation scaled to the collegiate level. Curriculum-based rubrics immediately inform faculty of assessment issues and needed improvements. Commercial software can provide quick and easy storage, retrieval, and evaluation performed on a semester, exam, or project basis. Students are well-served by achieving success in critical education aspects. With performance-based rubrics at hand, students can understand expectations and how to reach them. Without explicit expectations, all may be surprised at failed outcomes. Unfortunately, few in higher education know how to construct proper rubrics. Current tools do not scale to university levels. Thus, rubrics must often be tailored or created from scratch. Thus, this research and development effort can remove barriers to assessment, benefiting faculty and student understanding of successful outcomes.