Module 3 – Sample Assignment & Rubric
This page outlines the assignment students are to complete for this module. Included, you will find:
- Student learning objectives
- Assignment details and introduction
- Assignment deliverables
- Assignment rubric
A downloadable file of the assignment can be found at the bottom of this page.
Learning Objectives
Assignment – Student Objectives
After the completion of the assignment, you will be able to:
Knowledge
- Critique personal, local and professional enforcement of colonial priorities across cultural boundaries
- Defend Indigenous legal and social authority in the consultation process
- Produce a strategy to champion Indigenous values and knowledge in an engineering project (purpose, preparations, research and knowledge gaps)
Skills
- Use the Aboriginal and Treaty Rights Information System (ATRIS) system to access local consultation considerations.
- Articulate the connection between personal, communal and professional values
- Identify intercultural knowledge gaps
Attitudes
- Relate engineering practice to its local context through the practice of epistemic equality
- Act transparently when outlining the purpose and knowledge gaps when creating a knowledge strategy document
Assignment – Setting the Stage
In the lecture, we discussed the necessity of values and beliefs on a personal, communal and professional level. These values and beliefs were shown to vary from place to place. The OECD global priority survey showed us for example that Brazilian respondents prioritize education while the Indian respondents value life satisfaction most. Personal values influence our engineering work, and our own values may be in conflict with the beneficiaries of our engineering project. So, engineers should become familiarized with the process of identifying values, beliefs and priorities.
In this assignment, you will identify and discuss some of your own values and priorities in the self-reflection section, and become familiar with the values of Indigenous people affected by your engineering work through the development of a knowledge strategy document.
Assignment Details
Self-Reflection
Consider the value scales i), ii) and iii) below. Mark a symbol along the each of the sliding scales, with proximity to one side denoting increased importance to that value or trait:
- What value is more important to you? Please mark the importance with an x
- What value do you believe is more important to the people in your local community (town or city)? Please mark the importance with a circle
- What value do you believe is more important to professional engineers in British Columbia? Please mark the importance with a triangle
- Optional: Compare your responses for 2) and 3) with a classmate. If your responses are different, discuss how your interpretation of local and professional ways of knowing affect your decision-making.
| Straightforward
Being direct and outspoken |
 |
Tactful
Consideration in dealing with others and avoiding giving offense |
| i) Community
The quality of your social support network |
|
Education
Your education and what you get out of it |
| ii) Protection of the environment
Conservation and stewardship toward nature at large |
|
Health and Safety
Conservation and stewardship of personal health |
| iii) Meritocracy Opportunity for those who are deserving |
|
Democracy
Opportunity for all |
Answer the following questions, each in less than three sentences:
- Is a particular value priority universally self-evident? For example, can you empirically justify valuing community over education?
- Have you ever experienced “culture shock” when integrating into a group with different values? How was the transition? For example, during integration into UBC’s academic culture.
- How can an engineer understand and incorporate appropriate local values in their work?
Knowledge Strategy Writing
Draft a 3 page (12 pt. font, double spaced) knowledge strategy for an Indigenous community or business local to your project. Compilation of this information will provide you with the baseline understanding of community necessary to begin respectful engagement. The knowledge strategy will include the following sections:
- Purpose: What do you want to achieve with the people, businesses or communities you want to engage?
- Preparations: What does your group/business need to do in order to get ready for these engagements and relationships? What group values are important to highlight and discuss during your first meeting?
- Research: Acquire some background knowledge of three features of the community or business, such as
- Community History
- Community Profiles & Statistics
- Traditional activities (fishing, hunting and gathering)
- Spiritual practices
- Governance (tribal affiliations, hereditary leaders, band council)
- Community priorities
- Ways of knowing
- Knowledge gaps: Prepare at least five questions to ask a community representative, to strengthen
- intercultural dialogue and engagement
- understanding of social context including understanding the community’s values and ways of conducting business
- your group’s ability to design while considering social impact
Assignment Deliverables
You will submit one PDF document which contains:
- Your responses to the self-reflection section
- A three page knowledge strategy
Guiding Questions for Success
- How does knowledge strategy development relate to the assignment learning outcomes?
- Are you aware of your personal, local and professional values, and how they guide your decision making process?
- What important knowledge are you missing in your community research? How would you plan on gathering that information in a full-scale engineering project?
Useful Research Resources
The following links may be useful to begin your research:
- Treaty Information: Aboriginal and Treaty Rights Information System
- First Nations Profiles: First Nation Profiles Interactive Map
- Indigenous Self-Government: Self-Government Overview
- Territory maps according to Indigenous nations themselves: Native Land
- Indigenous Languages Dictionary: First Voices
- Engagement Process: Canadian Construction Association Indigenous Engagement Guide
- Indigenous Businesses in Canada: Indigenous Business Guide
These resources should be supplemented with community specific sources as well, such as community websites and colleagues who have worked with or consulted with communities in the area.
Rubric
A sample rubric to evaluate your students’ assignments is found below. Feel free to download and adapt the rubric to match your assessment procedures (i.e. changing weights, etc.).
| Benchmark Grade | Articulation of relationship between personal communal and professional values (10%) |
Purpose section in the knowledge strategy (20%) |
Preparations and knowledge gaps sections in knowledge strategy (30%) |
Research section in knowledge strategy (30%) |
Document Format (20%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | Student leadership: advanced skills and approaches researched and implemented above and beyond standard expectations. |
Student leadership: advanced skills and approaches researched and implemented above and beyond standard expectations. |
Student leadership: advanced skills and approaches researched and implemented above and beyond standard expectations. |
Student leadership: advanced skills and approaches researched and implemented above and beyond standard expectations. |
Student leadership: advanced skills and aapproaches researched and implemented above and beyond standard expectations. |
| 90% | The relationship between personal, communal and professional values are articulated in a clear, thoughful and self-reflective manner. The content is also justified based on lecture content and additional insight that demonstrates a high level of introspection on values and beliefs. |
The purpose section provides excellent reasoning for engaging with external collaborators, and and does so with clear and deliberate consideration of external partner needs and social context. |
The preparations demonstrate a clear, detailed and nuanced understanding of intercultural engagement. All questions in the knowledge gap section are not adequately linked to strengthening intercultural dialogue, understanding social context or designing with social impact. The questions demonstrate a particularly detailed understanding values, beliefs and context local to the Indigenous collaborators. |
The research section outlines accurate, detailed and traceable background information on the Indigenous group of interest, fostering a sense of mutual respect, acknowledgement and interest between the parties.The topics of research that were selected are selected in such a way that each research topic is demonstrably pertinent and can be integrated into the project methodologies (for example the design cycle or in communication styles) |
All format expectations were followed as described in the assignment outline |
| 70% | The relationship between personal, communal and professional values are articulated clearly, but may lack connection to student\] responses in the sliding scales or strong justification. |
The purpose section provides strong reasoning for engaging with external collaborators and does so with some consideration of external partner needs and social context |
The preparations address the scope and detail required to prepare the student group for intercultural engagement. All of the questions in the knowledge gap section are linked to to strengthening intercultural dialogue, understanding social context or designing with social impact. |
The research section outlines accurate, detailed and traceable background information on the Indigenous group of interest, fostering a sense of mutual respect, acknowledgement and interest between the parties. |
Most format expectations were followed as described in the assignment outline, with a couple of minor errors. |
| 50% | The relationship between personal, communal and professional values is articulated, but reasoning is and fragmented. The result is a fail to connect all three types of values. |
The purpose section provides weak reasoning for engaging with external collaborators, or does so with inadequate consideration of community needs and social context. |
The preparations section inadeqately represents the scope and detail required to prepare the student group for intercultural engagement. Some questions in the knowledge gap section are not adequately linked to strengthening intercultural dialogue, understanding social context or designing with social impact. |
The research section partially outlines accurate, detailed and traceable background information on the Indigenous group of interest, leading to potential miscommunication during initial engagement. |
Format expectations as described in the assignment outline were somewhat followed. |
| 0% | The relationship between personal, communal and professional values has not been clarified or articulated, through lack of coherence or missing information. |
The purpose section is not an approprate way to introduce proposed goals to internal or external collaborators within the group |
The preparations section inadeqately represents the scope and detail required to prepare the student group for intercultural engagement. The knowledge gaps section outlines questions are either inappropriate, irrelevant or counterproductive to establishing collaboration. |
The research section does not provide accurate, detailed and traceable background information on the Indigenous group of interest, leading to inadequate baseline knowledge to begin engagement. |
Format expectations as described in the assignment outline were ignored or unread. |
Downloadable Files
Downloadable Assignment
