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How to Kill Two Birds with One Stone – Assigning Grades and Assessing Program Goals at the Same Time LTC Karl F. Meyer, Capt Matthew Morris, COL Allen C. Estes, and COL Stephen J. Ressler United States Military Academy

Introduction

The culminating design experience for students enrolled in CE450, Infrastructure Development and Construction Management at the United States Military Academy requires the development of a comprehensive base camp design. The objective of a base camp is to provide the minimum essential facilities necessary for deployed units to become ready for mission operations. That means providing billeting, water, electrical power, waste disposal, munitions storage, organizational shops, roads, and so on. The process involves the translation of concepts and requirements into an actual plan with specific facility, utility, and labor force requirements. A good base camp design plan minimizes the construction necessary by making the maximum use of existing facilities and utilities.

The purpose of this paper is to describe an embedded assessment technique used in CE450 during the fall semester of Academic Year 2004-2005. CE450 serves as the final and culminating course in the civil engineering three-course sequence taken by students who are not majoring in engineering. It is one of seven different three-course sequences, which constitute a portion of the Academy’s core curriculum, and in which assessment of the Academy’s Engineering and Technology Goal is accomplished1. By merging the student evaluation and assessment processes, instructor workload was reduced, student evaluation was tied more closely to the relevant institutional academic program goal, and a systematic method was created for identifying shortcomings and areas of excellence in the program.

The Engineering and Technology Goal

The Engineering and Technology Goal, one of ten institutional academic program goals that all students are expected to achieve, reads as follows: “Graduates apply mathematics, science, technology, and the engineering design process to devise technological problem solutions that are effective and adaptable.” The goal is assessed by measuring the extent to which graduates can accomplish the following 12 indicators:

(1) In an environment of uncertainty and change, identify needs that can be fulfilled via engineered solutions. (2) Define a complex problem, accounting for its technological, political, social, and economic dimensions. (3) Determine what information is required to solve a problem; acquire that information from appropriate sources; and, when available information is imperfect or incomplete, formulate reasonable assumptions that facilitate the problem solution.

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

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Stephen, R., & Allen, E., & Meyer, K., & Morris, M. (2005, June), How To Kill Two Birds With One Stone Assigning Grades And Assessing Program Goals At The Same Time Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--14667