STEM blog
Coding in schools
5 min read20 June 2026Assessing computational thinking without marking 200 projects
A four-level rubric, a short design justification and a pre/post quiz will tell you more than a folder of finished projects — and take a fraction of the time.
Fast Emu STEM team
Assess the reasoning, not the artefact
Two students can submit identical working code with completely different understanding. A three-sentence justification of one design decision separates them immediately, and it takes seconds to mark.
Use the same quiz twice
A twelve-question quiz run before and after a unit gives you a measurable shift to report to leadership, and shows students their own progress. Keep the questions identical; resist the urge to improve them mid-unit.
Publish the rubric on day one
When students can see that testing evidence and risk communication are marked, they produce both. Hidden criteria produce guesswork.