2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

How We Assess: Alternative Assessment

Presented at Alternative Assessment in Chemical Engineering

Alternative assessment has become increasingly widespread across engineering programs over the past decade. Instructors have been using different forms, including specifications-based grading, standards-based grading, and ungrading, and have also been experimenting with different degrees of assignment and assessment flexibility in their implementation. Strategies with implementation of alternative assessment include contract grading, self- or peer-assessment, mastery- or competency-based grading, and portfolio assessment. Students have benefitted from alternative assessment over traditional grading schemes by helping to reduce stress, providing flexibility in how they are able to demonstrate mastery of content and concepts, facilitating involvement in their own assessment, and increasing accessibility and equity in the course.

A nationwide survey of chemical engineering instructors was conducted, including those who have implemented and not implemented alternative assessment in their courses. Through the survey, a broader understanding of the reasoning behind alternative assessment’s adoption or non-adoption, the obstacles and pitfalls experienced, and the benefits observed have been studied to determine commonalities and encourage paths forward. This paper will share instructor reflections and practical considerations for implementation in the classroom and chemical engineering curriculum. (This research study approved through IRB #25-05-48.)

Authors

Dr. Luke Landherr http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9805-7336 Northeastern University [biography]

Dr. Luke Landherr is a teaching professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University, conducting research in comics, alternative assessment, and engineering education.
Dr. Christopher V.H.-H. Chen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1477-6024 Columbia University [biography]

Christopher V.H.-H. Chen, Ph.D., is a Lecturer in the Discipline of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University. His teaching and research interests include the application of case- and problem-based approaches to STEM learning experiences; the promise and challenges of online learning; how social and emotional interventions improve engineering education; and preparing graduate students as future change leaders within the academy.
Prof. Allison Godwin http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0741-3356 Cornell University [biography]

Allison Godwin, Ph.D. is the Dr. G. Stephen Irwin '67, '68 Professor in Engineering Education Research in the Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University. She is also the Associate Director of the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility and a McCormick Teaching Excellence Institute Research Fellow. Her research focuses on how identity, among other affective factors, influences diverse groups of students to choose engineering and persist in engineering. She also studies how different experiences within the practice and culture of engineering foster or hinder belonging, motivation, and identity development. Dr. Godwin graduated from Clemson University with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. in Engineering and Science Education. Her research earned her a National Science Foundation CAREER Award focused on characterizing latent diversity, which includes diverse attitudes, mindsets, and approaches to learning to understand engineering students’ identity development. She has won several awards for her research including the 2021 Chemical Engineering Education William H. Corcoran Award, 2022 American Educational Research Association Education in the Professions (Division I) 2021-2022 Outstanding Research Publication Award, and the 2023 AIChE Excellence in Engineering Education Research Award.
Mr. Adam K Ekenseair Northeastern University [biography]

Adam Ekenseair joined the Chemical Engineering Department at Northeastern University in Fall of 2013 after completing a B.S. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Arkansas (2005), a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin (2010), and Postdoctoral Research at Rice University. He is currently appointed as an Associate Teaching Professor, with significant experience teaching thermodynamics, polymer science, separations, process simulation, and material and energy balance courses. His research interests have included the development of polymeric biomaterials for tissue regeneration and the development and implementation of alternative assessment structures into Chemical Engineering undergraduate courses.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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