The CTE Workcell courses emphasize student-centered assessment. Throughout a course, students will use an engineering notebook to document their learning. The engineering notebook is a vital part of student-centered assessment, guiding student-teacher interactions as well as instruction. Engineering notebooks offer an opportunity for students to revise, reflect, and rethink what they are doing and learning throughout the course. At the same time, they offer teachers a window into student thinking, and how they are making sense of the concepts in the courses. In this article, you will learn about how engineering notebooks fit into the bigger picture of student-centered assessment in the CTE Workcell courses.
Engineering Notebooks Allow You to Meet Students Where They Are
When students each have their own engineering notebooks, they have a personalized record of their learning and development. Individual notebooks embed authentic differentiation into the classroom, as each student is able to document learning in the way that works best for them. From the learning targets that are co-created at the start of a Unit, to the Debrief Conversation at the end of one, students and teachers are working together toward a shared goal, and the notebook is evidence of that journey. Engineering notebooks can be physical (as shown below), or digital (as linked in the courses). The multimedia nature of notebooks adds to their accessibility, as students can express their creativity and learning from a place of comfort and confidence.
Engineering Notebooks are Tools for Sensemaking
Students will document not only what they did with the 6-Axis Arm, but, and perhaps more importantly, how they learned a particular concept during a Unit. As a formative assessment tool, this is invaluable information for the teacher. By talking with students about their notebook entries, you have a window into student understanding, so that you can tailor your teaching to best meet their needs.
Think of notebooks and conversations around them as being more of looking through the windshield to determine where to go together with a co-pilot, rather than looking in the rearview mirror to see where you’ve been, or where you should have turned. We know that learning is often iterative, and is rarely linear. Engineering notebooks give students a place to keep all of their questions, evidence, explanations, data, and to synthesize information from lessons to create evidence of their growing understanding.
Engineering Notebooks Show Student Learning and Growth
Students will use the same notebook throughout a course. This means that students will have an evolving and comprehensive record of their learning and progress from Unit 1 through the Capstone. This gives an opportunity for teachers and students to continually engage in a reflective cycle of learning. Revisiting previous documentation regularly, allows students and teachers to develop a deeper understanding of the concepts in the course, but also, and perhaps more importantly, of the student as a learner.
Throughout a course, students can take turns being the primary ‘documenter’ for their group. As such, students may have multiple authors in their engineering notebook. This is a another teaching tool, as it gives students a genuine opportunity to learn from their peers, and to explore different documentation strategies. Students can learn from others within their groups, as well as from others in the class. Comparing notebooks with other groups can also provide a powerful peer teaching opportunity. Not only will students see different documentation strategies in action, but they can also discuss varied approaches to the problem as a whole.
For instance, in the examples above, not only is each group's documentation different, the strategy for the activity itself differs as well. Giving students the opportunity to view and discuss each other’s engineering notebooks (both within and between groups) adds another layer of collaboration to your classroom, and can help students see concepts and challenges from a different perspective.
Engineering Notebooks Offer Student Voice and Choice
Each student will have an individual engineering notebook for the entirety of the course. Students will be prompted to record similar content in the Lesson materials, however, the ways in which they document will be unique to them. There is no “one size fits all” method for creating engineering notebooks – a big part of their value to student-centered assessment is in how individualized they are to each student.
What works for one student in terms of documentation may not make sense to another. Not only is that ok, it is encouraged. Engineering notebooks offer students an opportunity to try out different strategies and test ideas from other students to find the method that works best for them. Because each notebook is personal to the student, the student has greater freedom to figure out how to document their learning in a way that makes sense to them.
When looking at a student’s engineering notebook, it is important to talk about it together. The goal of a notebook entry is to give evidence of student learning, questions, or reflections – and as long as they can explain how that is happening on the page, the ‘product’ of the page matters less than the process.
Looking for more?
- Looking for examples of engineering notebooks to get started with? Notebooking.vex.com has great resources and examples of engineering notebooks used in robotics competitions. You can use these as inspiration, and connect them to what you and your students are doing with the CTE Workcell in class.
- Do you have more questions about teaching with engineering notebooks and the CTE Workcell? Ask them in the PD+ Community, and learn how other CTE educators are making the most of engineering notebooks in their setting.
- Curious about using engineering notebooks with your students in your classroom? Schedule a 1-on-1 Session – we'd love to talk with you about how engineering notebooks can work best for you.