Video corrections of undergraduate teaching lab reports

Abstract

Here it is presented a new methodology based on using video recordings for the evaluation and marking of lab reports in the undergraduate teaching labs. Students are typically requested these reports at each lab session. The reports are partly (or fully) used for the determination of the students mark related to the teaching labs. These reports do not always have the quality expected, since undergraduate students frequently experience different difficulties. Video recordings of the marking process of the reports, with the inclusion of a detailed identification and explanation of the mistakes found, have been performed for the Materials Technology subject in the 4th course of the Industrial Technology Engineering degree. These video recordings, unlike the typically adopted corrections using text comments, were more warmly welcomed by the students, increased the comprehension of the mistakes they performed, and helped them to learn how to prepare higher quality reports. In addition, most of the students considered that these video corrections should be generally implemented in all the teaching labs. Finally, it was also found that marking through this method saves a significant amount of marking time to the lecture.