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Invention Convention

Wk 6: Student Invention Evaluation

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  • Once the student has finished constructing the invention, the teacher should guide the student to complete the "Invention Evaluation," found in the student's Inventor's Log.
  • With my students, I emphasize with student's that it is critical to be able to critically evaluate your own work. I remind them that through this type of critical evaluation, inventors like Alexander Graham Bell are able to take a simple invention and make it better. The telephone is an excellent example because multiple inventors throughout history have critically evaluated the telephone to make it better. Most students will be able to think of how cell phones have changed and developed during their lifetimes. My students know that their personal evaluations of their inventions are a large part of their overall grade for this project, because it shows me what they have learned about the process and how it will affect their future work.
  • When students complete the "Invention Evaluation" in the Inventor's Log, the students are directed to work thoughtfully, quietly, and independently. When all the students have finished, I have each student share some aspect of the evaluation that stands out to them as important. With some groups, I have each person share one thing they would do differently and why. With the right type of classroom community, the students enjoy this sharing and often laugh at what they did and how they would do it differently in the future.
  • Lastly, I remind students that this is not just a fourth grade project. I help them to know about projects, competitions, and opportunities in our community and in our middle schools and high schools that they might want to participate in now that they are experts at electricity and the design process. I think it is important for them to be aware of and to feel that they are competent participants in these physical science opportunities.
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