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Session 1532

Engineering Education Assessment System Using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps

Renato Lucas Pacheco, Renato Carlson, Lúcia Helena Martins-Pacheco

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Introduction This paper presents a new methodology for the study, plan and formative assessment of a teaching/learning environment. Formative assessment is that frequently informal assessment, aimed at improving some process, and usually beginning before the process has been completed1.

The methodology involves course and student accompaniment, aiming to improve the teaching/learning process of a course or curriculum, in a continuous feedback and reevaluation procedure. At first, it was thought and developed having in mind an electrical engineering course, but it can be used in other engineering courses or even adapted to other undergraduate and graduate courses. It can be used to evaluate aspects such as: How do teachers understand their courses? Which are their beliefs about several aspects of the teaching/learning process? How are students developing the desired creative abilities, which are very important for the modern engineer? And also: Which is the degree of satisfaction of students and teachers involved in a considered course?

Educational assessment, a critical aspect in the teaching/learning environment, has been studied by several teachers/educators1-8. It is considered a complex and difficult issue because it involves several interrelated aspects, such as judgment about students’ learning and their abilities/skills, methods used by teachers and institutions to make such judgment, general conditions of the educational environment, ideological values, and so on. A complete assessment should take into account each aspect of the educational process allowing general and effective improvements in the entire educational system. In fact, a good assessment is a complex careful consideration that needs to take into account a net of points. To understand such complexity and to make an integrated evaluation of the aspects, we are proposing a methodology that is mostly based on a tool known as Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM). FCM has, among others, the interesting advantage to put together several facets of a complex situation, by means of a graphical mathematical representation, pondering each aspect involved. This kind of representation makes relational reasoning easier, especially for engineers, and it can highlight some questions that are hidden at a first glance. The complete tool combines Fuzzy Cognitive Maps into a Deming Cycle9-10, making it an efficient method to follow teaching/learning progression by means of constant feedback and re-assessment (the Deming Cycle will not be approached in this work).

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education

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Pacheco, R., & Carlson, R., & Martins-Pacheco, L. H. (2004, June), Engineering Education Assessment System Using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13759