I read a great post today on Facebook called "How To Grade S.T.E.M. Projects."  It was a blog written by "Sarah".  She had some great STEM activities to use in the classroom.

Because STEM engineering projects are by design so open-ended, they can be difficult to grade. Here are some things to keep in mind when you are assessing STEM engineering projects in your classroom:

1. You don’t need to grade everything!

It’s true. The learning still happens even if it’s not recorded. I know this doesn’t help you when your principal says you have to have x number of grades in the grade book by report cards. But in case you need to let yourself off the hook, remember that you don’t have to grade everything!

2. Along the same lines, you don’t have to grade everything in the traditional way. 

STEM is not traditional paper and pencil learning, and it doesn’t have to be graded that way. You don’t have to have students fill out elaborate sheets with each STEM project. Don’t be afraid to think creatively. You could:

-Have students snap pictures to submit to you electronically.

-Have students record all STEM assignments in a journal, and then you grade the journal holistically.

-Have students sketch their STEM projects and record what they learned.

-Just let them create and monitor and talk with them as they work.

Yeah, but how do I grade it? 

I would assign a check plus, check, or check minus. I did this a lot with many activities in my classroom. How does that translate to a grade in the grade book? A check plus is 100, a check is 85, and a check minus is 70, assuming they participated and tried. That way, no one who tries, fails, and you’re not stuck with a new stack of papers to bring home.

3. Rubrics

With STEM projects, I wanted students to take risks and not be afraid to try a new way, even if it might not work. Because of this, I never wanted to grade students for having a completed, successful project. Making mistakes is part of the learning process, and I don’t want students to expect a perfect outcome of themselves. No scientist would do that. I usually used rubrics for projects such as engineering challenges, and when I create my rubrics, I think not only of the products, but of the behaviors that I want students to exhibit.

For STEM challenges, things like teamwork, participation, creative thinking, and reflection are every bit as important parts of the learning as the outcome of the project. That led me to create this rubric, which I include in my STEM Megabundle sets. You can grab it here free.

  STEM Rubric

4. Learning Scales a la Marzano

You could also use learning scales to help both you and your students assess their learning. Here is a simple Engineering Learning Scale I created. Download it free here! There are several versions including depending on how much spare ink you feel like using. 

STEM Scales

I hope these have helped you feel more comfortable about grading STEM projects. I love questions and comments! Do you have any tried-and-true ways of assessing STEM engineering projects? Do tell!

For more STEM posts, click here!

Happy STEM-ing!

Sarah

Dysgraphia

The article below showed up on my Facebook feed.  I was curious and wanted to learn more. The app, SnapType, looks very interesting.  I have a student in mind that just might benefit from the app.

Dysgraphia—I Created an App for That

It’s called SnapType, and it helps kids keep up with their peers in class when their penmanship holds them back.

Be Our Guest | posted by Amberlynn Gifford

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Steven is a fifth-grader who I met during my occupational therapy fieldwork several months ago. He was diagnosed with dysgraphia . His handwriting is so messy that no one can read it.

His occupational therapist tried many things to help him improve his penmanship , but nothing worked. The determined OT even scanned his worksheets into a computer so he could type in answers to questions, but it was too time consuming and she stopped doing it. Steven was frustrated about getting left behind in class because he couldn't complete the worksheets with the rest of his peers.

There had to be a better way to help Steven keep up. I had an idea: What if he could take a picture of his worksheet using an iPad and type his answers on the screen? I searched the app store, but there was nothing out there that did that. There were a few apps, but they were designed for business people and were too complex for a child to use.

I sketched out my idea on a napkin and shared it with Steven's OT. She loved it. So I put together a detailed mockup of the app and worked with a developer to build it. A few weeks and a few dollars later, I had a working app called SnapType .

Steven's OT and teacher are thrilled. However, the real joy comes from seeing Steven use the app. It is easy for him to take a picture of a worksheet and use the iPad keyboard to answer questions. He no longer falls behind in class and is more confident about his abilities.

Another side benefit of using SnapType is that a student’s worksheets are safely stored in one place—on his or her iPad. This prevents kids with ADHD or LD from losing or misplacing them, as they sometimes do.

SnapType is available in the iTunes Store for free . I hope to help many kids with writing challenges by encouraging OTs, teachers, and parents to use it. If you have any questions for Amberlynne, feel free to reach out to her here .