Abstract:

Studies at the University of Alicante have started an adaptation process to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). One of the most relevant changes that this process has bring about is a marked change in the evaluation process; according to the new regulations at the University of Alicante, the students evaluation can be achieved by means of different procedures, where the written examination can only entail the 50% in the final mark of the students as maximum, while the rest of the mark by means of the continuous evaluation.

In scientific and technical degrees the continuous evaluation procedures should be adapted to the two different types of subject that can be found in the syllabus: some of them are theoretical subjects supported by the solution of problems in the standard classroom or in the computers room; others are experimental subjects where the main activity are practical sessions at the laboratory.

The existence of so different subjects involves a difficulty at the moment of selection of the continuous evaluation procedures that should be adapted to the typology of the subject.

Usually, continuous evaluation in theoretical subjects can be achieved by means of different types of activities: objective tests (true/false, multiple choice, matched pairs, etc.), short answer tests, long answer tests, development of themes, oral tests (individual and group tests, presentation of issues or projects, etc.), essays and projects, tests involving real or simulated tasks, self-evaluation systems (oral, written, individual or group), etc…

With respect to experimental subjects, the continuous evaluation can be based on the evaluation of reports of practical experiences, oral presentations and the evaluation of behaviours and skills developed by students.

In any of these cases, the evaluation procedure should evaluate in an objective way the skills obtained by students along the semester.

One likely procedure would consist in a rubrics system where the students could evaluate the skills of their respective classmates. In the present work an evaluation procedure based on a rubrics system will be presented and focused to the evaluation of skills gained by chemical engineering students of different subjects.