Do you remember Bloom's Taxonomy? It describes different levels of competency for any knowledge domain:
- Remembering / Knowledge
- Understanding / Comprehension
- Applying / Application
- Analyzing / Analysis
- Creating / Synthesis
- Evaluating / Evaluation
Modern pedagogy recommends that we take the students to different levels of learning in the classroom. It is equally important to assess their competency levels in the exams.
Here are few examples of assessment questions at different competency level.
· Electronics Engineering > Semiconductor Diode
- Remembering: What is p-type material? What is n-type material?
- Understanding: How majority careers are formed in extrinsic materials?
- Applying: List the name of 5 household devices that use diodes? Also mention what is use of diode in each of those devices?
- Analyzing: Describe what will happen if 2 diodes are connected back-to-back and 12 volts is applied across them.
- Creation: Design a full wave rectifier circuit using only 1 diode.
- Evaluation: Do you think any kind of diode can be used as voltage regulator? Why or why not?
- Remembering: Describe the materials used to construct, and the mode of operation of, an n-p-n junction transistor.
- Understanding: Describe the bonding mechanisms that occur in polymetricmaterials. Your answer should include reference to both thermosetting and thermoplastic materials.
- Applying: Surgery to replace joints (eg. Hip joint) in the human body is now widely practiced. The replacement joint has to operate within a living organism. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of using the following materials for this application.
ii. Polymers – eg. polyethylene
iii. Ceramics – eg. alumina
iv. Composites – eg. carbon fibre reinforced plastic
- Analyzing: An alloy of Cu=50wt% Ni is slowly cooled from 14000C to room temperature. Describe TWO effects that would be seen if this alloy was cooled very quickly.
- Creation: How, and why, would you expect he Young’s modulus of these specimens vary?
i. annealed, commercially pure (99.9%) copper, grain size = 1 μm
ii. annealed, commercially pure (99.9%) copper, grain size = 10 μm
iii. work hardened, commercially pure (99.9%) copper, grain size = 1 μm
iv. work hardened, copper – 2wt% zinc alloy, grain size = 1 μm
- Evaluation: The microstructure of a metallic specimen can have a large effect on the properties of the specimen Rank, with reasons, the following copper specimens in order of increasing yield strength:
1) annealed, commercially pure (99.9%) copper, grain size = 1 μm
2) annealed, commercially pure (99.9%) copper, grain size = 10 μm
3) work hardened, commercially pure (99.9%) copper, grain size = 1 μm
4) work hardened, copper – 2wt% zinc alloy, grain size = 1 μm
Can you think of similar assessment scheme on different topics of other engineering disciplines? Do write them as your comment here!
- Mukesh Soni
