What's in it for me? Engineering educators respond to criteria-based evaluation methods

The response of two undergraduate engineering professors at different universities to a new criteria-based system of evaluation for their written lab reports is described. Both the professors have worked with the same witting consultant in designing in the criteria for evaluation in each assignment. After only one semester, both have noted nagative and positive effects of using such a system. There were three primary goals in this research applied to criteria-based evaluation. These include to reduce subjectivity associated with traditional holistic methods of assessment in engineering classes, to decrease the amount of time the engineering professors actually spend in evaluation and to assist student/professor interaction in evaluation problems.