Introduction​​​​

This guide for teachers explains how to assess and mark (grade) a design project for students in school years 7, 8, 9; that is 12 to 14-year-old students. Level III design thinking tasks are intended to extend the enquiring minds of the student-designers, nurture their creativity, and encourage experimentation by teaching the five stages of design thinking for this level: UNDERSTAND, DECIDE, CREATE, BUILD, and TEST. The work done by the students for the five stages can all be assessed. The curiosity shown in the UNDERSTAND stage; the decision-making shown in the DECIDE stage; the creativity and experimentation shown in the CREATE stage; the experimentation and quality of work shown in the BUILD stage; and the diligence shown in the TEST stages, can be marked.

 

Assessing and Marking

Learning outcomes
The learning outcomes should follow your national, state, district and school guidelines. Therefore, the following example of learning outcomes is provided for your information. The generic knowledge, skills, and competence categories and descriptors are derived from “Level 3” of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF).
Knowledge

• “Knowledge of facts, principles, processes and general concepts, in a field of work or study,” for example:
  • enhanced vocabulary on specialised subjects;
  • and gaining broad knowledge specific to the design topics, such as the technical aspects of function and manufacture.

Skills

• “A range of cognitive and practical skills required to accomplish tasks and solve problems by selecting and applying basic methods, tools, materials and information,” for example:
  • skill in using instruments, hand tools and power tools, such as in measuring, building and assembling models;
  • using computer hardware and software in the design process, and mechanical and electronic devices in the design solutions;
  • and applying methods for creativity and to analyse and solve design problems; sharing information, and giving and receiving critiques.

Competence

• “Take responsibility for completion of tasks in work or study; adapt own behaviour to circumstances in solving problems,” for example:
  • working individually or in groups to follow the design thinking process on complicated design tasks under the guidance of teachers;
  • autonomously searching for information to resolve design problems;
  • working in groups, delegating, communicating, and collaborating on design tasks;  
  • taking on new and significant design challenges, overcoming obstacles, and persevering until a task is complete.

​​​​​​A scheme for assessing and marking
Where marks (grades) are required, you may use the following assessing and marking scheme. The basic principle is to give a fair reflection of the quantity and quality of the submitted work. It is good practice for student projects to be marked by more than one teacher.

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FIGURE: Example of a marking sheet for a Level III design thinking project.

​​​​​​​Criteria
For the UNDERSTAND stage, consider the following:

• Searching
  • The relevance, breadth and depth of the search for information. (More and greater is good.)
  • How well were design methods employed, such as Mind Map (III)? (Better is good.)
• Managing
  • How well organised is their paperwork and computer files? (Better is good.)

For the DECIDE stage, consider the following:

• Deciding
  • The novelty and plausibility of the direction decided upon in this stage. (More and greater is good.)
  • How well were design methods employed, such as Problem Page (III)? (Better is good.)

For the CREATE stage, consider the following:

• Designing
  • The quantity and quality of design ideas. (More and better is good.)
  • Is there evidence of trial-and-error? (Yes is good.)
  • When students worked in groups: did they work well together? Consider their use of group methods, such as If I Were You (III) and Dot Voting (III). (Yes is good.)
  • How well were design methods employed, such as Idea Storm (III), Idea Sketchathon (III), and Idea Grid (III)? (Better is good.)
• Drawing
  • How detailed are the drawings, for example in the use of dimensions? (Detailed is good.)
  • How well do the drawings depict the thing being designed? (Better is good.)

For the BUILD stage, consider the following:

• Designing
  • Is there evidence of trial-and-error? (Yes is good.)
  • Does the design idea work? (Yes is good.)
• Model making
  • How much effort to build the physical model? (More is good.)
  • How well does the model simulate the thing being designed? (Better is good.)
  • Note: where a drawing or artwork has been made in place of a model, mark that instead.

For the TEST stage, consider the following:

• Testing
  • Was a useful test conducted? (Yes is good.)
  • How good was the feedback obtained? (Better is good.)

Scoring
Each category is graded out of five points. You may apply the rubric below (based on 60% for pass). You see (above) that the UNDERSTAND stage has two categories — searching and managing; the DECIDE stage has one — deciding; the CREATE stage has two — designing and drawing; the BUILD stage has two — designing and model making; and the TEST stage has one — testing. Thus, 5 × (2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 1) = 40 points in total for the design project.

Rubric
5 ~ Excellent. Correct work; with extra diligence and effort; exemplary for this level.
4 ~ Good. Correct work; with enough diligence and effort; above average for this level.
3 ~ Pass. Mostly correct work; with some diligence and effort; average for this level.
2 ~ Inadequate. Mix of correct and incorrect work; with little diligence and effort; below average for this level.
1 ~ Poor. Mostly incorrect work; with almost no diligence and effort; bad for this level.
0 ~ No submission. Or completely incorrect work; or work that is submitted after the submission date.

Copying, plagiarism, and assistance
Observant teachers will notice some copying when students of Level III engage in design. Students may copy to learn and develop skills. However, cheating by copying is a desperate act. Learning how to design is the best antidote to cheating. Students, who have practised design over the years, will have gained an understanding of the subject and the ‘design thinking stages,’ improved their making skills, and boosted their creative confidence. Teachers who are engaged with the students’ projects and follow their work closely become a significant impediment to cheating.

• Sharing ideas when designing
  • Sharing information and ideas is a normal part of designing, and should be encouraged. Student-designers might gain the same insights out of the UNDERSTAND stage, identifying the same problems. Or, they might Idea Storm together and follow the same ideas.
  • Ideas are merely the starting points for design solutions. By following the design thinking stages, the students will tend to start the design task at the same place, but end up with very different solutions.
• Copying each other
  • Where one student excessively copies another — it can be remedied through gentle encouragement: “Interesting! Why don’t you try something different? I’m sure that you can do better.”
  • Plagiarism that involves cheating by blatant copying, for example by tracing another’s drawings, must be dealt with using your discretion or according to your school’s regulations.
• Copying manufactured objects
  • Students will see things that they wish to imitate. After all, many manufactured objects are ingenious and well-designed. Student-designers can become too attached to something they have seen and will tend to copy it.
  • A teacher can try to break the spell that a manufactured object has on a student by pointing out its shortcomings. Still, any attempt by the student-designers to copy manufactured objects will inevitably fall short because they won’t be able to attain the same qualities of the real thing. Instead, the students will be forced to modify and improvise their design ideas — all of which are designing and involve learning.
• Assistance from adults
  • Students might get excessive assistance from adults in their design project, for example, an adult might build their model.
  • The key question is whether your school is able to support all the activities necessary to complete a design task. For example, your school may not have the facilities for a model that the students need to build.
  • Use your judgement as to whether adult assistance will be permitted or not. Consider the design topic, your school’s facilities, health and safety, and other pertinent factors. Consider too, that a student successfully managing outside work is an achievement in itself.
  • Ensure that the student-designers declare when they get outside assistance with their design work. Ideally, they should get their teacher’s permission for any work to be done by adults.
• Penalties for excessive copying
  • There are many good reasons not to penalise copying. However, if students copy excessively, or if they benefit too much from adult help on a design task, you may deduct a point or two for the affected criterion. This is not done for punishment, rather it is about being fair to the other students who worked unaided. After all, a mark is meant to be a fair reflection of the achievement of the student.