Student reference
Grading Rubric
Each laboratory is graded in six categories. Each category is scored out of 10 and then weighted according to the percentages below.
Overall grading breakdown
| Category | Weight |
|---|---|
| Punctuality | 10% |
| Work Ethics & Teamwork | 15% |
| Troubleshooting & Independence | 20% |
| Timely Completion & Progress | 15% |
| Verbal Answers / End-of-Lab Interview | 25% |
| Written Responses in the Interactive Lab Manual | 15% |
| Total | 100% |
Punctuality — 10%
Punctuality is based on recorded arrival time.
| Arrival | Score /10 |
|---|---|
| On time | 10 |
| 1 minute late | 9 |
| 2 minutes late | 8 |
| 3 minutes late | 7 |
| 4 minutes late | 6 |
| 5 minutes late | 5 |
| 6 minutes late | 4 |
| 7 minutes late | 3 |
| 8 minutes late | 2 |
| 9 minutes late | 1 |
| 10–19 minutes late | 0 |
Important: If you arrive 20 minutes or more after the scheduled start, you will not be permitted to participate in the lab and will receive 0 in all six grading categories, subject to applicable approved absence or accommodation policies.
Work Ethics & Teamwork — 15%
This category uses observable participation during the laboratory.
| Criterion | 2 points | 1 point | 0 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety & procedural compliance | No correction required | One correction | Repeated correction/intervention |
| Active participation | Active at ≥80% of observations | Active at 50–79% | Active at <50% |
| Hands-on technical contribution | At least 2 substantive technical tasks | 1 substantive task | No substantive technical contribution |
| Team contribution | Contributes to technical work and discussion/decisions | Substantial contribution in only one | Partner performs essentially all work |
| Equipment/workstation responsibility | No reminders required | One reminder | Repeated reminders/intervention |
Maximum: 10/10. Substantive technical work can include wiring or modifying a circuit, taking measurements, programming or configuring equipment, writing or debugging HDL or code, programming an FPGA, testing or implementing a design decision, and interpreting results.
Troubleshooting & Independence — 20%
You begin this category at 10/10. You keep 10/10 when the experiment works without troubleshooting assistance or when you diagnose and fix a problem independently.
You are not penalized for completing the experiment correctly without encountering a problem.
| Code | Instructor assistance | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| T0 | No troubleshooting help required / problem solved independently | 0 |
| T1 | General diagnostic hint | −1 |
| T2 | Directed to a subsystem or general area | −2 |
| T3 | Directed to a specific component, connection, signal, code line, setting, or configuration | −3 |
| T4 | Instructor identifies the actual fault | −4 |
| T5 | Instructor identifies the fault and gives the exact correction | −5 |
| T6 | Instructor performs the correction | Maximum score = 2/10 |
Multiple deductions are cumulative to a minimum of 0/10.
This category measures how independently you diagnose technical problems. It does not penalize you for asking appropriate questions.
No deduction applies to safety questions, clarification of instructions, asking where equipment or components are located, help with equipment that has not yet been taught, asking the instructor to witness completed work, confirming a diagnosis you already independently reached, defective instructor-provided equipment or components, or instructor-initiated intervention.
Timely Completion & Progress — 15%
The interactive lab manual records timing information from when the lab is opened to when the lab is marked complete, and also records the timing of individual stages. Each lab has its own expected completion-time profile. You are graded against the expected timing for that specific lab, not against other students.
Overall completion — 7 points
| Actual total time compared with expected time | Points /7 |
|---|---|
| ≤100% | 7 |
| 101–110% | 6 |
| 111–120% | 5 |
| 121–130% | 4 |
| 131–140% | 3 |
| 141–150% | 2 |
| 151–160% | 1 |
| >160% or not completed | 0 |
Finishing earlier than the expected time does not earn extra marks.
Stage progress — 3 points
| Stages completed within expected duration | Points /3 |
|---|---|
| ≥90% | 3 |
| 70–89% | 2 |
| 50–69% | 1 |
| <50% | 0 |
Your Timely Completion score combines overall lab completion time (7 points) and stage-by-stage progress (3 points).
Documented delays outside your control should not count against the score, including defective lab equipment, replacement hardware, software or network outages, instructor-requested pauses, waiting for instructor demonstration, approved accommodations, and other documented interruptions.
Verbal Answers / End-of-Lab Interview — 25%
Near the end of the lab, the instructor may ask each student questions individually. There is no fixed number of questions. Typically this may be around 2–3 questions, depending on the lab and available time. Questions are selected from an instructor question bank for that specific lab and may cover theory or concepts, circuit or code behaviour, interpretation of results, troubleshooting, prediction, application or transfer, and design reasoning.
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 2 | Correct answer and technically correct explanation/reasoning |
| 1 | Substantially correct answer/reasoning but incomplete or with a minor error |
| 0 | Incorrect, unable to answer, or no meaningful technical explanation |
Your verbal score is based on the points you earn divided by the total points available from the questions you were asked.
Written Responses in the Interactive Lab Manual — 15%
This category grades substantive responses entered in the HTML lab manual, including predictions, calculations, explanations, interpretation of observations, comparisons, design decisions, troubleshooting reasoning, Think It Through responses, and technical reflections.
Administrative fields do not count, including name or student number, acknowledgements, navigation, file selection, and simple completion checkboxes.
Each substantive response has specific technical concepts that should appear in a correct answer. You earn credit for the required concepts you demonstrate correctly.
Category score: correct concept points ÷ total available concept points, converted to a score out of 10.
Grammar and writing style are not graded unless the response is too unclear to determine your technical understanding.
Evidence summary
| Category | Main evidence used |
|---|---|
| Punctuality | Recorded arrival time |
| Work Ethics & Teamwork | Structured instructor observations |
| Troubleshooting & Independence | Recorded instructor-intervention level |
| Timely Completion & Progress | Lab and stage timestamps |
| Verbal Answers | Instructor-question scores |
| Written Responses | Technical concepts demonstrated in HTML responses |
The goal is for every mark to be linked to observable or recorded evidence from your laboratory work.