When the judges look through our engineering notebooks, what are they specifically looking for, and making sure has been included in the notebook? Is there a rubric or something that they grade off of?
Although this question is not about the World Championship, I’ve moved this thread to this forum since it’s monitored by the RECF who manage and determine the judging requirements.
In reviewing the team notebooks judges look for documentation of the design process which is an iterative process. Iteration requires a student to recognize and define a problem, brainstorm and work through various stages of the design process, test their designs, continue to improve their designs, and repeat the process until a solution has been identified. Judges look for documentation of both success and failure as the design process is followed. The judges are also to look for the team’s documentation of their use of project management. Specifically time management and resource management (both financial and mentor resources).
The notebook should contain: team meeting notes, design concepts and sketches, pictures, notes from competitions, team members’ observations and thoughts , team organization practices, software programs and any other documentation that a team finds useful.
Some criteria that judges use in evaluating notebooks are:
- The notebook is laid out such that it can be easily understood (Notebooks should be neat, but never edited.)
- The notebook is regularly updated, documenting all team efforts
- Information is easily found, making the notebook a useful tool to all team members
- The notebook contains evidence of an iterative design process, highlighting the various phases their robot development
- The notebook contains evidence that this is a student designed and built robot.