Evaluation rubrics: a tool for laboratory activities assessment in chemistry and physics

Rubrics are a powerful tool for the evaluation of complex activities or authentic tasks. In these situations the final score is best represented when the task is subdivided in well defined portions, each of them describing the elements concurring to the overall performance. In this communication a set of evaluation rubrics for the assessment of several laboratory activities is presented, together with a rubric for the evaluation of the final report of an experimental work. This latter rubric is centered on the problem/hypothesis couple: the students are firstly encouraged to formulate a “problem”, arising from the observation of a physical phenomenon. After the “problem” has been defined, the students must find out an interpretative “hypothesis” to be tested by the experimental process. Such an approach agrees with the indication of the Rocard Report on Education Science to increase interest and attainments in science. The introduction to the use of rubrics was presented to the students by means of a cooperative activity, centered on the examination of laboratory reports of different qualitative levels made by students of previous course years. The described strategy has been practiced both at university and in a secondary school (ITIS). A first approach has been also attempted within the “Physics and Chemistry Laboratory” at LST. The extensive use of report rubrics for the whole period of the courses has increased both the understanding of how a scientific report should be organized and the student ability in effective written skills.