2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

In this paper, Standards-Based Assessment (SBA) is the assessment tool used to provide grading efficiency, clear communication of expectations to students, and diminish grader variances. It measures students against a set of well-defined learning standards rather than by comparison to other students. Specific learning outcomes are communicated to students at the introduction of the assignment as a set of “I can…” statements. The grading rubric reflects the same “I can…” statement and is a binary choice for graders. The grader simply determines whether the student demonstrated the content in the statement or did not. The work includes the pilot study of SBA in two extreme cases of design opportunities in Summer 2022 courses. Both courses used it as a tool to assess the assignment called Proof of Skills. The first course, Design Studio A, was an open-ended design project course without examinations, homework, or written assignments. The entire course depended on iteration and resubmission of skills in the context of their creative design projects. Teams were widely multidisciplinary, crossing schools and departments. Completion required iteration throughout the semester. The second course was Electric Circuits. It is a second-year fundamental course that is the prerequisite for all other courses in the Electrical, Computer, and Systems Department. Proof of Skills was one individual assessment among other exams, homework, labs with Proof of Concepts, and in-class team assignments. Students could iterate to achieve the entire set of skills over the semester. Could SBA provide a consistent and subjective framework for open-ended design problems?

After the Pilot Study, recommendations were implemented in Electric Circuits in an extended study. Results obtained from surveys, one-on-one interviews, Proof of Skills scores, and lab choices in Spring 2023 and Spring 2025 revealed three key trends central to the pilot study and extended study findings.
1. Proof of Skills using Standards-Based Assessment as the only assessment in Design Studio A, a multi-disciplinary design course, was not tightly defined enough for students to feel accomplishment and success. Proof of Skills in this course was not directly aligned to any future course in a student’s discipline.
2. Proof of Skills using Standards-Based Assessment in an introductory fundamental course, Electric Circuits, was tightly defined. Proof of Skills was directly aligned to laboratory skills and those in future courses within the discipline. Students reflected accomplishment and success as their proficiency was translated and reflected in other assignments given in the course.
3. The Omega (Design) lab participation compared to Alpha (Traditional) Lab participation increased from ~50% before Fall 2022 to over 85% in Spring 2025 in the second-year course Electric Circuits. One significant factor includes repeated practice of Proof of Skills to gain confidence before taking a significant risk in their creative design lab choice. SBA established a streamlined approach to grading creative designs relative to course content efficiently.