Utilising forensic tools to assist in chemical engineering capstone assessment grading

Abstract

The grading of assessments that consists of large calculations represents an odious task for educators, as they must verify the correct procedures and algorithms were used as well as ensure that the calculations have been done correctly. For engineering capstone design project assessments, these calculations represent spreadsheets, coding and ancillary calculations that can run to over a hundred pages. There is no meaningful way an educator can properly assess such material in the timeframe given for grading. As such, quantitative tools are needed that enable educators to rapidly evaluate calculation-based assessments. Forensic auditing tools were used here to evaluate calculation-based assessments associated with chemical engineering capstone design projects. These tools analyse how data within sets are presented, the structure of spreadsheets and tables, as well as statistical principles around numbers and their distribution within large data sets. This enables the rapid identification of features within students’ assessments that warrant further investigation to establish if the data has been manipulated or calculation errors exist. The analysis demonstrated that chemical engineering students’ reports can be analysed by forensic auditing tools. Furthermore, these tools identified student errors and misconduct, based on abnormal results highlighted by the analysis, which were not discovered during the standard grading procedure. Applying forensic auditing tools enable a rapid approach to verify engineering students reports submitted for grading. This approach will reduce the time burden on educators, enabling them to focus on ensuring the correct design equations and procedures have been applied.