Should notebooks from the Developing category be evaluated using the Engineering Notebook Rubric?

Notebooks from the Developing category are primarily meant for teams that are still in the process of refining their projects and ideas. The Engineering Notebook Rubric is designed to assess fully developed projects that demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of engineering principles, team collaboration, and project execution.

Teams in the Developing category may not have all the elements that the rubric assesses, such as fully articulated engineering processes, well-documented prototypes, or completed project evaluations. Thus, only fully developed notebooks meet the criteria outlined in the Engineering Notebook Rubric, ensuring that evaluations are fair and aligned with the expectations for more advanced levels of project development.

Judging criteria often necessitate that participants demonstrate mastery of specific concepts and methodologies, which is more applicable to completed projects rather than those that are still under development. Therefore, it is appropriate that only Fully Developed notebooks are evaluated against this established rubric.