Using E-Student OA during Competitions

The reflective prompting and self-evaluation from EvaluateUR-Student Open Access can help you get the most from your team competition experience.

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Welcome! Whether you just signed up to use EvaluateUR-Student Open Access during your competition experience, or you are considering whether it is right for you, this page will provide information on how the program works and what the experience looks like.

All you need to do to get started is register for the program and follow the instructions in the emails you receive. Everything else here is a sneak-preview of what to expect.

Weekly Emails

During your competition experience, you will complete periodic self-assessments and engage in reflection cued by prompts sent in weekly emails. Make sure you set up your email so that these messages don't get caught by spam filters! See our web page on ensuring email delivery—specifically the instructions for individuals.

Here's what you can expect on a weekly basis. Keep in mind this will be dependent on how long your competition experience is. The example email topics below reflect a 12-week experience. The system will automatically adjust the emails to match the duration of your actual experience. If you are starting after the competition has already begun, you will receive slightly different catch-up emails to begin.

Remember that you are the driver of this experience, and you can choose to follow the suggestions for each week as you see fit. You will see the greatest benefit to yourself if you stick to the suggested activities!

Show the outline of weekly emails

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Timing	Theme
~3 days before start	Orient, watch the two videos, pick a journal, write first entry
Day 1	Make a copy of the workbook, choose components, initial self-assessment
Week 2	Set up your first conversation with a research mentor
Week 3	Name two outcome components you're actually using
Week 4	An honest "how is it going" check-in
Week 5	Mid-program self-assessment, compare to Checkpoint 1
Week 6	One skill practiced, one still building, one thing learned that isn't a skill
Week 7	Translate two outcomes into "resume version"
Week 8	Find a second sounding board
Week 9	Re-ask what you want out of this experience
Week 10	Three one-paragraph descriptions of your research
~2 days before end	Final self-assessment, look across all three columns
~1 week after end	Take-aways and what to keep doing

Self-Assessment

In the self-assessments, you will rate yourself on multiple components across several dates or milestones to see how your skills develop over the course of the competition. The emails will guide you to using the assessment form at several points during your experience. The number of times you do these self-assessments will be automatically adjusted based on the length of your experience. The fillable assessments below can be edited to suit your needs.

It is recommended that you use one of the fillable assessments below to track your progress:

Show self-assessments for general competitions

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• Google Sheet Self-Assessment (make a copy and save to your Google Drive)
• Word Document Self-Assessment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 25kB Jul20 26)
• Excel Spreadsheet Self-Assessment (Excel 2007 (.xlsx) 20kB Jul20 26)

Show self-assessments for MATE ROV competitions

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• Google Sheet Self-Assessment for MATE ROV competitions (make a copy and save to your Google Drive)
• MATE ROV Word Document Self-Assessment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 26kB Jul22 26)
• MATE ROV Excel Spreadsheet Self-Assessment (Excel 2007 (.xlsx) 17kB Jul22 26)

Show self-assessments for Baja SAE competitions

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• Google Sheet Self-Assessment for Baja SAE competitions (make a copy and save to your Google Drive)
• Baja SAE Word Document Self-Assessment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 27kB Jul22 26)
• Baja SAE Excel Spreadsheet Self-Assessment (Excel 2007 (.xlsx) 18kB Jul22 26)

The self-assessments use the following 5-point rating scale:

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5 - Always. This means exactly what it says – that you always display the outcome being assessed. For example, one component of the outcome category called "Autonomy" is the behavior described as "Uses time well to ensure that work gets accomplished." If you think you always use your time well, you would assign yourself a score of 5 on this outcome.

4 - Usually. In the example above, if you almost always use your time well – that is, you do this more often than not but you don't always do it – you would give yourself a score of 4.

3 - Often. While you frequently do use your time well, there are also times when you don't do so. Thus, while it's not your usual behavior, you nevertheless do it fairly often. That assessment deserves a score of 3.

2 - Seldom. While you may use your time well once in a while, you do so only rarely, so this is an area where you could stand to do more. That's a good indication that your assessment score should be 2.

1 - Not yet. Maybe you intend to use your time to better advantage but realize that doing so is not your strong suit just yet and that your time discipline could use some work. An assessment score of 1 is an important step towards identifying an outcome that you might want to identify as a learning goal.

Things to keep in mind when completing the self-assessment:

• These are not grades—low scores are not a bad thing. Low scores reflect areas for growth. If this is one of your first competitions, it is expected that you will be learning many new skills. Additionally, if you score yourself artificially high, then you won't get as good of a picture of how you have grown over the course of the experience.
• Only score what is relevant to you and your competition. If a particular category or component isn't relevant, skip it!
• Late start? Don't worry about trying to "remember" where you started when the experience began. Score based on where you are now, and proceed as normal.

Outcome Categories and Components

The components and outcome categories are skills and groupings of skills (respectively) that are critical to being a successful professional. Using the rating scale above, you will evaluate how often you use, do, or exhibit these skills. You can review the full set of outcome categories and components below.

Show outcome categories and components

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Outcome Categories	Evaluate-Compete Outcome Components
Communication	Demonstrates the ability to communicate the engineering process and vehicle design to a wide audience.
	Effectively uses images, diagrams, and data to communicate designs and processes.
	Writes clearly and concisely using correct grammar, spelling, syntax, and sentence structure.
Creativity	Shows ability to approach problems from different perspectives.
	Effectively connects multiple ideas/approaches.
	Demonstrates the ability to apply knowledge and skills in new and innovative ways.
Entrepreneurship	Demonstrates the ability to apply skills in new and innovative ways to creative a product or service that meets customers' needs.
	Demonstrates an understanding of business operations and budget.
	Demonstrates the ability to manage a project.
Autonomy	Demonstrates an ability to work independently and identify when guidance is needed.
	Accepts constructive criticism and uses feedback effectively.
	Shows flexibility and a willingness to take risks and try again in the event of failure.
Ability to Deal with Obstacles	Is not discouraged by setbacks or unforeseen events and perseveres when challenges are encountered.
	Shows flexibility and a willingness to take risks and try again.
	Demonstrates ability to quickly improvise and implement a solution to fix a design or equipment problem.
Intellectual Development	Recognizes that problems are often more complicated than they first appear.
	Approaches vehicle design challenges with an understanding that there can be more than one acceptable solution.
	Displays insight into the limits of their knowledge and an appreciation for what isn't known.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving	Maintains a posture of open-minded skepticism when considering potential solutions to design and operational challenges.
	Looks for the root causes of problems and develops or recognizes the most appropriate corrective actions.
	Demonstrates the ability to evaluate alternative designs and/or operational solutions.
Project Knowledge and Skills	Displays an understanding of the engineering and scientific principles and practices relevant to vehicle design and operation.
	Possesses the skills needed for vehicle design and operation.
	Demonstrates mastery of the skills required to compete successfully.
Teamwork/Collaboration	Behaves with a high level of collegiality and treats others with respect.
	Shows ability to work effectively in a team.
	Willingly shares knowledge among team members and amongst other teams (as applicable).

Reflection

The weekly emails will encourage you to reflect on your competition experience using different prompts. Additionally, certain checkpoints associated with self-assessments will include more extensive instructions for reflection. Expect to see questions like:

• What's one small change you could try this week?
• What would help you the most right now — and what would it take to ask for it?
• What's been the most useful thing about this experience so far?
• What are you getting out of this experience that you didn't expect?

We recommend actually writing down your reflections and responses to these prompts. You can use pencil and paper, a word processor (e.g. Microsoft Word or Google Docs), or a journaling/notes app for your phone or computer.

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