Revising Rubric as Part of Continual Quality Improvement (CQI) in Assessing Affective Domain for the Environmental Laboratory Engineering Course

This continual quality improvement (CQI) is a vital process in enhancing educational tools such as rubrics to ensure they remain relevant, equitable, and effective. This paper details the iterative development and refinement of a rubric for assessing the affective domain, focusing on individual responsibility and teamwork, in the Environmental Laboratory course for engineering students. Since assessing the affective domain involves emotional and psychological components, a robust and adaptable rubric is essential. Beginning in 2015, the rubric underwent multiple stages of revision to address limitations in specificity and fairness. Initial versions relied on general descriptors to evaluate disciplinary and communication skills, teamwork, and leadership, leading to significant score variability. In 2017, a revised rubric introduced detailed criteria based on Bloom’s affective domain taxonomy, improving its focus on personal responsibility and group interaction. Further adjustments during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the rubric’s adaptability, shifting its focus to assess engagement during virtual learning. The CQI process has proven critical in minimising score variability and enhancing student outcomes, making the rubric more effective over time. This study underscores the importance of CQI in refining assessment tools to meet evolving educational challenges and better support student development in the affective domain.