I often assess inquiry-based projects on observation, participation, and student effort inputted into the project. When designing the project or activity, I always try to provide students with the equal amount of resources, assistance, and information needed to complete the assignment. Through student observation and guidance, I am able to determine if students are successful in working through the inquiry process. I realize that not every teacher can do this, but I determined what I believe is best for my first graders. Often the biggest obstacle I run into is that students want to rush through the learning process and not take their time. Therefore, much of my assessment is on student craftsmanship and their dedication to inquiry. First Grade Digital Book on Northern Cardinals

I love the different rubrics that I read about. I plan on modifying one of those rubrics to use in my class. I want to set deadlines for each part of the project so that it isn't so overwhelming for students. I hope this helps students do quality work.

Prior to providing students with inquiry-based projects in the classroom, I want to provide students with opportunity for review, discussion, whole group application, or in other words formative assessments. I feel like inquiry-based projects are summative assessments because even though their results may vary their assessment should be based on their application of their understanding and how they showed their application. Inquiry based assessments are not black and white and do not have right or wrong answers but rather show the generation of student ideas. Their reasoning and demonstration of their understanding is the assessment.

I envision using rubrics for assessments and ensuring that the students have access to the rubrics while completing the project as well as making sure I go over each component before they start. I also think each student's project will be different and I believe that the most important part of the projects are to see individual growth amongst students. This is important because rather than comparing each student to each other, students are compared with their own progress.

We typically use rubrics for summative assessment of inquiry-based projects.  We also use many forms of formative assessment including peer-assessment, self-assessment, graded check-ins, etc.  It is also important for students to see the rubric prior to completing their final project so they understand expectations.

A lot of our projects are inquiry-based.  In a class filled with differential learners, the purpose is to learn, not how capable they are of writing a report. (Writing reports come in handy later on... but, that is not what our focus is in class)  So..  I like to even the playing field.  My students are given the option to work in teams or with partners.  They give their reports as google slides, which everyone analysis at the end of the project.  Being able to analyze other students' work brings up lots of discussions and improvement of everyone's work!    I use rubrics to grade the entire project.  The rubrics is divided so that the reports is not the focal point of the project. The actual work on the project is what is graded the heaviest, with the report counting less on the scale.

When I assessed my students' research projects, I began by having due dates for each step along the way.  For example, students receive completion points for selecting a topic that can be researched and for writing a testable hypothesis.  The next component was for them to find a minimum of 10 scientific journal articles for background information.  They had to provide me with a link to each source which had to go directly to a full-text article, not just an abstract.  Although many of the steps were completion points, the research design and implementations were graded on a rubric. This made it a fair assessment to reflect the accuracy and thoroughness of the projects.

I really prefer a single point rubric for assessing student work. Does the project have it, yes or no. I feel like it takes the subjectivity out of the grading process, and is more clear for students. Give the students a clear checklist, so that they know what is missing and what their score would be before they even turn it in.

I like to use rubrics for most inquiry based projects.  Typically I prefer to have one on one communication during and at the conclusion of any project, but I also like to have the rubric to help guide the students in writing the report as they move through the project. Some students will follow along with the rubric, while others tend to just write and then go back when they are trying to improve their grade and fix the parts they scored lowest on. Either way, I think the rubric provides communication with the student even if they are reluctant to have the one on one communications.

rubrics are really great ideas. But I often struggle with making them because after I'm done, by brain immediately starts seeing all the flaws they contain, the biggest being bias. How criteria can't be really simplified and that there multiple parts to them. Do all areas need to be graded equally? or should the be weighted depending on their importance. Should I just do Pass/Fail??? At the end I just become overwhelmed because it's all just arbitrary!

I like the idea of a rubric, but sometimes giving out those numbers seems too subjective to me. I think it would be good to have regular mini due dates to ensure all stages of the project are going smoothly, rather than one due date for the whole project. That can help students who struggle with time management, as well. During some of these stages, it might be beneficial to have group discussions about everyone's project, also, to add peer input and support. It's important that kids know they're not alone in doing the project, even if it is self-led work. In real life, they would have access to mentors and peers, as well, and we shouldn't shy away from having as many eyes on our projects as possible to help us stay on the right track.

I believe check in on their projects are very beneficial. Good to have a one-on-one conversation to see if they are struggling in their project or need more guidance. I also enjoy the idea of presenting their projects with a poster/display in front of their peers.

I do find using rubrics to be very helpful in "grading" any type of report or application.  As students work on projects, a simple check could be given at certain points along the way to just to make sure students or groups are on track.  In addition to the methods for sharing listed above, I will invite experts in the field to come in to talk with students about their project and to give them feedback on improving the project or what possible next steps could be.  A local non-profit, NoVA Outside, holds a Student Environmental Action Showcase each year where students can share their work with college students, the public, other students from across the Chesapeake Bay watershed and professional experts.   I try to include elected officials in the review of student projects and to help the students work with them to change policy.  We have had some luck with this with school boards and state delegates.

I like the rubrics as a way to give feedback to the student. I also like the idea of sharing what they did- either in posters in the hall, or another way to show off what they did. Even if there are some errors in it, it was still a learning experience for them, and maybe for others who read their experiment.

Since the nature and outdoor clubs I teach are for fun and not graded, any of the citizen science projects and inquiry projects we would do would not be graded. Instead, I usually try to incentivize them with a reward for completing the project. For the most part, I plan on leaving it up to them with how well they do. They may be able to take the ideas from nature club and use them in their daily classrooms for science fair projects or other graded projects.

Each student is different, and as with all areas of the curriculum, teaching and learning for each student is differentiated according to their needs and abilities. Students will be assessed based on their individual learning growth shown through the project.

Some inquiry based projects will inherently have more depth to them based on the question asked while others will be simpler in scope. I think this will prove challenging to assess and this will need to be taken into account in the rubric. In addition to the question asked, the depth of data collection and data analysis will make reports stronger or weaker. Again, this needs to be reflected in the rubric so students have an idea of the expectations. I also find that exemplar reports can be helpful as well as writing a report together just to set expectations.

Rubrics are great for the students as well as the teacher. The students know the expectations of the project and teacher and the rubric allows the students to achieve that level of completion in a variety of ways. The teacher does not have to be as specific if the rubric is written broadly enough for all students to achieve the level of success that would like to meet. Grading for the teacher is easier and the students produce a product that meets the expectations of the teacher.

This is a big question in education right now:  are we assessing skills, effort, or both?  Ultimately, I believe that they are intermingling components, and it is important to cultivate the enjoyment and effort so that the final product is as strong as can be.  When such enthusiasm is nurtured, and when the teacher contributes to supporting the students in the middle of the process, I consistently see projects that are completed in a high level.

At my school we use choice boards and/or allow students to choose how they want to demonstrate what they have learned. Some make videos, posters, or art projects, while others prefer to write reports and essays. To save my own time on making different rubrics I often like to present three-four different types of projects that students can choose from. I also like to assign group projects as my students often struggle with social skills. Each student from each group chooses their "job" for the project and they have to check in with each other throughout the process. They also have to edit each other's work before turning in a final project.

For my middle school class, I plan on using a checklist-style of summative assessment.  Before they are graded on their project, each will be peer assessed, and our librarian/former Language Arts teacher will run small groups to talk about citing, grammar, and strong writing skills in general.

My preference is to have the students select their own approach for assessment.  Their responsibility is to select the style of assessment that works best for themselves and their project.  This does make things more complext, and certainly we do not start at that point - but it is the end goal.  We start by using assessment styles that I choose, but end by having the students determine how they should be assessed.

Understanding the 'why' behind why I started project with students helps me to better decide what TYPE of reporting I will have them do. This is the first step in developing an assessment of HOW to report findings. Next I will think of WHO I want to be reading or using this report, that is my second step in understanding what TYPE of report I will have students do. Is it for students/teachers/parents/themselves?  

I really appreciated the opportunity to look at rubrics in evaluating the sample projects in the previous module. For my 6th grade students, I felt a rubric that was similar to the fourth grade rubric but that also included the section on variables found in the 6th grade rubric would be best. I like how the fourth grade rubric addressed specific components of each section of the paper. I would like to look at their regional & state science fair rubrics to see if there are other components that I should add so that the project can be eligible and prepared for competition as well. I know another area that will need to be addressed will be sources of information, as that is an important component in competing in the regional & state science fairs. I might also include a section to evaluate the process of choosing a topic and investigating using inquiry skills in addition to completing the project/written report. I think going through the process of wondering and learning about the project can increase a student's ability to be successful on the project in the long run. My ideal rubric would be a conversation between the student and I throughout each part of the project, as in my TAG program, I don't assign grades, but rather prepare them for the evaluation of judges at the fairs to come.