INDEPENDENT INQUIRY on the new Notebook Rubric : Robot Events

INDEPENDENT INQUIRY on the new Notebook Rubric

JHAWK

17-Jun-2024

Hello, there appears to be a contradiction in the INDEPENDENT INQUIRY section of the engineering notebook rubric.

The expert category contains the following statement "Notebook documents whether the implemented ideas have their origin with students on the team, or if students found inspiration elsewhere." This gives the impression that teams can still receive an expert rating even if they aren't using original ideas as long as they cite the source of their designs.

The proficient category contains the following statement "Team shows evidence of independent inquiry for some elements of their design process." This gives the impression that teams must be using original ideas on their robots in order to score points in this category.

Could some clarification behind this be given please?

Answered by Competition Judging Committee

1-Jul-2024

We will revisit clarifying this language in the August Guide to Judging Update.

To clarify, "Independent Inquiry" can include wholly original ideas that have their origin with the team. It can also mean teams taking ideas seen from outside the team, and adapting them for their own use.

The "Independent Inquiry" in the latter case would include having a rationale of why and how to implement that idea, as well as documenting an understanding how that idea and its implementation functions. This documentation demonstrates that the implementation of that idea is not beyond the skill level of the team.

Teams using an idea for a programming aspect or mechanism without demonstrating an understanding of how and why they work and should be implemented, could be viewed as the team using ideas originating outside the team that are not representative of the team's skill level / level of understanding, which can raise concerns about the student-centered nature of the implementation.