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DEVELOPING A CORPORATE FEEDBACK SYSTEM FOR USE IN CURRICULAR REFORM Cheryl Cates, Kettil Cedercreutz, Bryan Dansberry, Richard Miller PhD, Benjamin Uwakweh PhD

Abstract – The University of Cincinnati has been awarded a US Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education [FIPSE] grant to be used for the Development of a Corporate Feedback System for Use in Curricular Reform. The duration of the grant is three years during which the University is scheduled to receive a total of $ 555,133 (57%). The matching contribution of the University of Cincinnati will be $421,396 (43%). Including matching funds the University of Cincinnati will be investing $ 0.976 M in industry integrated curriculum development. The objective of the grant is to build a closed loop system that measures student performance while on co-op and directs this feedback into curricular development. This project develops methodologies to use assessment data of student work term performance in curricular development, thereby continuously aligning experiential- or cooperative-education based curricula with industrial needs. The proposed three-year project would focus on: a) identifying curricular activities exhibiting a strong correlation with student co-op work performance; b) designing and implementing processes allowing the systematic use of employer assessment in curriculum design; c) evaluating the impact of changes in curricular design upon student work performance; d) piloting and contrasting projects in both different academic fields and at different colleges; and e) developing a set of best practices to be used for further refinement and dissemination of the process. Initial collaborators include University of Cincinnati (UC) academic units as follows: the Department of Architecture (College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning); the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (College of Engineering); the Department of Civil and Construction Management (College of Applied Science); the College of Business Administration; and the Division of Professional Practice. The assessment data will be analyzed by the UC Evaluation Services Center. The Evaluation and Assessment Center for Mathematics and Science Education at Miami University will act as the external evaluator for the project. Schools accredited by, or subscribing to, the attributes of the Accreditation Council for Cooperative Education will act as a reference group, ensuring a transferable end process. The ultimate goal of the project is to move schools engaged in cooperative education to a new era of market alignment. The objective is to build feedback structures that keep the schools abreast of a rapidly-changing environment. The inclusion of a wide array of programs and a large, diverse reference group caters to building a process that can be effectively utilized in schools engaged in cooperative education within a diverse set of academic fields and educational levels. The Grant was filed by Cheryl Cates as PI and Kettil Cedercreutz as co-PI in a joint effort with the Accreditation Council for Cooperative Education. The three year pilot program will involve the Departments of Architecture (Prof. Anton Harfmann, College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning) , Civil Engineering (Prof. Richard Miller, College of Engineering), Construction Management (Prof. Benjamin Uwakweh, College of Applied Science) and the College of Business (Prof. Marianne Lewis, College of Business). Project Liaisons from the Accreditation Council for Cooperative Education (ACCE) include Professional Practice Executive Director Tom Akins from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Dr. Luther Epting from Mississippi State University.

Index Terms – University of Cincinnati, ACCE, co-op, curricular development, corporate feedback ABET, co-op performance data, assessment, FIPSE, grant

FUND FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION (FIPSE)

The Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) is administered by an office of the U.S. Department of Education with the purpose of supporting solutions that are meaningful and lasting to problems in postsecondary education. FIPSE awards grants for innovative educational reform ideas then shares the proven lessons with the larger educational community. FIPSE grants fund initiatives that have potential for national significance in resolving problems in postsecondary education. FIPSE grants are comprehensive and action oriented in that they focus on innovative ideas rather than basic research and they address a variety of problems at a wide range of institutions. FIPSE is bold in its resolve to support unproven as well as proven ideas. The University of Cincinnati was awarded a FIPSE grant in 2004 to develop a corporate feedback system for use in curricular reform.

PROBLEM AND PROPOSED SOLUTION

The problem of matching curricular content with industrial needs has been, both nationally and internationally, approached on a variety of levels. The cooperative education paradigm has however been relatively successful when striving to combine industrial and scientific values. Co-op has in many instances made a single organization very competitive both with regards to its contribution to science, as well as with regards to its ability to integrate theory and practice. The University of Cincinnati (UC), the first university to introduce cooperative education in 1906 at the urging of Dean Herman Schneider, is a good representative of institutions in this category. Schneider, a contemporary of John Dewey, developed cooperative education to form a bridge between classroom theory and

“Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright ©2005, American Society for Engineering Education

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Benjamin, U., & Miller, R., & Dansberry, B., & Cedercreutz, K., & Cates, C. (2005, June), 3 Year Fipse Project: Developing A Corporate Feedback System For Use In Curricular Reform Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--14375