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A Work in Progress – Updating and Maintaining an Effective Assessment Program under ABET Engineering Criteria 2000

J. Shawn Addington, Robert A. Johnson, and David L. Livingston Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Virginia Military Institute

This paper serves as a follow-up to previously published works1,2 regarding the assessment program developed and utilized by the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the Virginia Military Institute. In particular, the paper will: 1) outline the departmental assessment strategy, including the application of multiple assessment tools selected by the department to achieve triangulation; 2) discuss the design and use of effective faculty course portfolios; 3) introduce revisions made to the departmental surveys in order to enhance both the quantity, as well as the quality, of feedback; and 4) consider future direction in departmental assessment, following a successful ABET accreditation review last year.

In cooperation with its constituencies, and in support of the overall education mission of the Virginia Military Institute, the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department established a list of program objectives. In order to assess these objectives, the department outlined a series of educational outcomes. Such outcomes are specific, measurable characteristics desired by departmental graduates, and designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program in meeting its established objectives. In order to measure the extent to which its graduates achieve the prescribed outcomes, the department selected a wide variety of assessment tools, among which were a course assignment database, multiple surveys, and results from the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. Since the use of assessment data is of the utmost importance, faculty course assessment portfolios that utilize the data were designed and implemented. These portfolios provide a formal opportunity for each faculty member to review the assessment data as they pertain to their particular courses. Based on review of the assessment data the faculty member can identify areas for improvement regarding the effectiveness of the course in satisfying the specific course objectives and in the achievement of the overall program outcomes and educational objectives. New web-based surveys are currently being introduced to provide an enhanced evaluation of student achievement in both departmental course specific objectives and for assessing the achievement of program educational outcomes in support courses. By building from its recent positive ABET review, the department plans to continue updating and improving its methods of assessment. This paper summarizes these efforts.

Introduction To be effective, an assessment plan must be flexible and adaptable. As electrical and computer engineering disciplines must constantly review and update their programs of study in order to ensure the effectiveness of the curriculum and the marketability of their graduates, so must the assessment plans that evaluate those disciplines. This has never been more true than now, following the inception of ABET Engineering Criteria 2000. Designed to allow engineering programs more freedom in program content, ABET EC 2000 demands an assessment plan that evaluates not the number and type of courses offered by a program, but instead the quality of the

“Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2002, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Addington, J. S. (2002, June), A Work In Progress Updating And Maintaining An Effective Assessment Program Under Abet Engineering Criteria 2000 Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10999