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Assessment: How Much is Too Much or How Much is Not Enough?

Erdogan M. Sener Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, IUPUI

Introduction

The Department of Construction Technology of the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology (PSET) at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) has offered ABET accredited programs since 1984. The Department went through another accreditation visit in the Fall 2000 and was accredited for all of its programs till the next visit. Despite the comfort and reassurance this has provided, we have not lost sight of the fact that the next round of accreditation, based on ABET 2000 criteria for Technology (TC2K), will be challenging. Consequently, the Department is continuing its assessment work at full speed with the understanding that we need to do assessment and implement continuous improvement for the next six years if we want to keep our status.

Notwithstanding this continuing effort though, we are struggling with the question of what exactly needs to be assessed, how much, and is it possible to do it too much? Considering that assessment is really taking a toll on the scarcest resource of academic departments, faculty time, the question is a valid one. Since all faculty in our programs are technical professionals, it is in our nature to try to optimize everything we do and we are looking for a benefit/cost ratio that is feasible and defendable in this case too.

Even though the PSET houses a number of engineering and technology departments most of which are ABET accredited, there is no consensus or uniformity in terms of how to do assessment and how much. As a result some departments have opted to assess selected courses, some are assessing select courses plus a senior capstone course, some are assessing all courses, some are using comprehensive exams or portfolios, and some are using combinations of above in addition to the usual surveys, exit interviews, and such. As a result, the question lingers in terms of are we doing enough or are we doing too much. The question is more than academic in nature in the sense that significant resources or reputations are at stake.

This paper will focus on what the Department of Construction Technology intends to do in specific for its ABET assessment. Our plan is that our assessment will essentially entail assessment at several levels as a combination of assessing all courses plus a capstone course, exit exams and surveys, and involving the Industry Advisory Board in the process. The paper will also detail the total spectrum for different kinds of assessment activities being undertaken by different departments from the perspective of showing the wide range and scope. It is hoped that the presentation will lead to a lively discussion as to what is enough and what is too much and maybe bring out what the feelings are on this issue on the part of different administrators.

Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright @ 2002, American Society for Engineering education

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Sener, E. (2002, June), Assessment: How Much Is Too Much Or How Much Is Enough? Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--11194