Concepts of threshold assessment for a first course in control engineering

This paper focuses on the combined challenge of encouraging students to engage with learning and assessment of their competence levels. A core challenge for many staff is the need to distinguish different levels of learning, and to evidence core competence clearly, especially for students with lower marks. This paper proposes a novel assessment strategy which separates core competencies from the more challenging application of the learning in engineering problem solving. The assessment design is efficient for staff and students and allows a reduction in student stress levels while simultaneously giving them strong incentives to adopt good working practices. Evaluation evidence is given to demonstrate the efficacy of the approach.