Designing Questionnaires To Obtain Opinions In Assessing Program Performances
- Conference
- Location
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Austin, Texas
- Publication Date
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June 14, 2009
- Start Date
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June 14, 2009
- End Date
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June 17, 2009
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
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Assessment and Continuous Improvement in Engineering Technology: Part II
- Tagged Division
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Engineering Technology
- Page Count
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15
- Page Numbers
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14.432.1 - 14.432.15
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--5122
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/5122
- Download Count
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297
Paper Authors
Nripendra Sarker Prairie View A&M University
NRIPENDRA N. SARKER
Dr. Sarker is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Engineering Technology of the Prairie View A&M University, TX. Previously he worked at universities in Bangladesh, Japan and UT - San Antonio. He received his first Master’s degree from AIT, Thailand and a second Master’s and a PhD degree from the Texas A&M University His research interests include simulation, algorithm development, and computer networking. He is the Program Assessment Coordinator of Engineering Technology department and a member of the ABET/SACS Committee at PVAMU.
Mohan Ketkar Prairie View A&M University
MOHAN A. KETKAR
Dr. Ketkar is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of Electrical Engineering Technology program at the Prairie View A&M University, TX. He received his M.S. and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has served as faculty member at Lake Superior State University, MI, University of Houston and Prairie View A&M University. He is a member of the College Committee for ABET at PVAMU.
Cajetan Akujuobi Prairie View A&M University
CAJETAN M. AKUJUOBI
Dr. Akujuobi is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and the founding Director of the DSP Solutions, Mixed Signal Systems and Broadband Access Technologies Programs and Laboratories at Prairie View A&M University. He is also the founding Director of the Center of Excellence for Communication Systems Technology Research (CECSTR). His research interests include High-Speed (Broadband) Communication Systems, Mixed Signal Systems and DSP Solutions. He is also the Department Head for Engineering Technology at Prairie View A&M University.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Design of Questionnaires to Obtain Opinions in Assessing Program Performances
Abstract
In accrediting a program, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) assesses the program using a list of nine Criteria. Opinions of external constituents of a program are important assessments required by ABET. The major constituents are alumni of a program and their employers. The Educational Benchmarking Inc. (EBI) is one business organization which has a set of questionnaires to collect opinions of external constituents. Theses questionnaires are enormous in size often repelling the respondents to volunteer their time. Besides, many questions in that survey are irrelevant to program objectives and are devoid of the very essence of the assessment requirements. As a result, it is better to design opinion survey questionnaires based on own assessment requirements. The psychology of the respondents is also one important factor to consider. In the process of development of questionnaires, sacrificing some less important questions turns out to be a good idea too. Any questionnaire more than one page in length is likely to be abandoned by the respondents. The first attempt to obtain responses from external constituencies using the EBI questionnaires ended up with not a single response from employers in 2004. To address this problem, emphasis was made to develop precise instruments (questionnaire) to obtain opinions from the external constituents. Various elements were considered in designing the instruments. One major focus was to make sure which minimum information is needed to fulfill the objectives of the program objectives. This strategy resulted in adequate responses which strengthened the self-study report for ABET visit of Fall 2004. This paper discusses the development of the survey instruments for gathering opinions of external constituents for program objective assessment required in closing the loop in the process of continuous improvement.
Introduction
An academic program excels by the continuous effort of faculty, staff, academic environment and facilities provided by the institution. ABET accredits program based on measured evidence that is in the loop of continuous improvement process. Performance of a program is measured by internal and external constituents of a program. Continuing students are the internal constituents to measure the performance trend of a program while the primary external constituents are the alumni (graduates) and their supervisors/employers.
The ultimate success of a program is measured by the success of the graduates in their professional fields. The professional performance/success of graduates is not noticeable or
Sarker, N., & Ketkar, M., & Akujuobi, C. (2009, June), Designing Questionnaires To Obtain Opinions In Assessing Program Performances Paper presented at 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition, Austin, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--5122
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