Development of an assessment method for individual grading of a group project work

In engineering education, project-based learning (PBL) is irreplaceable for implementing active studies in applicable, engineering courses.The example of this paper is taken from a course Product design and development given for the third-year students at speciality Product development for mechanical engineers at Linnaeus University.The course is project-based and the projects are given by the industries where students work with an external collaboration partner.In the 15 ECTS course, done in one semester the students are trained in conceptual product design using different methods for problem solving and decision-making.They work in project teams of 3-4 students.The assessment and grading were done on the base of the grade of the report written during the project time.The individual knowledge and contribution to the project work was evaluated more in informal than in a formal way during the tutoring sessions and the seminars.This is where the authors have faced a big challenge to assess formally and individually the students when a group has done the work.The question was how fairly to evaluate the students' knowledge, skills and contribution to the group work.In this paper, the authors are presenting an attempt to answer this question and to propose a method for individual grading of a group project work.The method for assessing individually the students' performance is based on a Competence Advancement matrix with standardized criteria-production, perception, reflection, systematic approach and complexity.