Lessons Learned from the First Round of Course Assessments After Curriculum Restructure Based on ASCE BOK2
- Conference
- Location
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Salt Lake City, Utah
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2018
- Start Date
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June 23, 2018
- End Date
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July 27, 2018
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Civil Engineering
- Page Count
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21
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--30764
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/30764
- Download Count
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923
Paper Authors
Kelly Brumbelow
Texas A&M University
orcid.org/0000-0002-5681-4359
Dr. Kelly Brumbelow is an Associate Professor and the Assistant Department Head for Undergraduate Programs in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University. He has been a faculty member at Texas A&M since 2002, where his technical specialty is water resources engineering, planning, and management. Prior to this position, he completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at Georgia Tech, where he taught undergraduate courses for 7 years. His professional activities have included projects in East Africa, Central America, the Middle East, Alaska's North Slope, and throughout the "lower 48 states." His current activities at Texas A&M cover a wide spectrum from K-12 outreach and recruiting to undergraduate curriculum design to retention, monitoring, and post-graduation engagement.
Luciana R. Barroso
Texas A&M University
orcid.org/0000-0002-3420-9449
Luciana R. Barroso, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Structural Engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering, in the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University. Luciana has been with Texas A&M University since 1999, and in that time has taught 15 different courses ranging from the freshman to graduate levels. She has been active in academic program and curriculum development from the department level to the university level, where she served as co-chair of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) committee that determined the academic course of actions to be taken over the next accreditation cycle to addresses critical issues related to enhancing student learning. She is currently the Director of Undergraduate Programs and chair of the Curriculum Assessment and Implementation Team committee. She also has been involved in several professional developments that were provided by the Aggie STEM Center to Texas ISD teachers. Her research interests include structural health monitoring and control, structural dynamics, earthquake engineering, and engineering education.
Debra Fowler Texas A&M University
Dr. Debra Fowler serves as the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Texas A&M University. Following 16 years working in industry she completed a Ph.D. is in Interdisciplinary Engineering with a specific focus on engineering education from Texas A&M University. Her research areas of focus are faculty perspectives and growth through curriculum design and redesign, interdisciplinary teaching and learning, reflective eportfolios and professional development of graduate students related to teaching.
James Michael Kaihatu Texas A&M University
Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University; at Texas A&M since 2006. Prior employment experience includes: Oceanographer for US Naval Research Laboratory (1995-2006), Post-Doctoral Fellow at US Naval Research Laboratory (1994-1995), Hydraulic Engineer at US Waterways Experiment Station, US Army Corps of Engineers (1987-1989). Ph.D. from University of Delaware (1994), M.S. from University of California, Berkeley (1987), B.S. from California State Polytechnic University (1986), all in Civil Engineering. Research interests include theory and modeling of ocean wave dynamics, beach erosion, coastal engineering, nearshore circulation, and ocean wave generation by wind.
Veronica S. Rodriguez Chavarria
Veronica S. Rodriguez Chavarria is a graduate assistant for the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University. She assisted the curriculum assessment and implementation team with data gathering and logistical coordination. She is in the process of receiving an M.E. in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University.
Abstract
A large civil engineering department undertook a curriculum project based on concerns of conceptual gaps and redundancies in the degree program and a desire to holistically incorporate the outcomes from the American Society of Civil Engineer’s (ASCE) Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century: Preparing the Civil Engineer for the Future, 2nd Edition (BOK2). The process resulted in a comprehensive curriculum map, where each program learning outcome is explicitly connected to courses in the curriculum at one of three levels: “I” for when outcome is first introduced, “R” when outcome is being reinforced, and “D” when outcome is demonstrated and subject to a summative assessment. This process, including notable curriculum changes and lessons learned, has been reported in prior publications.
This paper presents the process for implementing the curriculum changes and continuous assessment process, including challenges and lessons learned. Based on the identified course program learning outcomes, individual course worksheets were developed to identify what student work-products, such as homework assignments or exams, would be collected to assess each outcome. The first assessment cycle includes 7 courses evaluated in Spring 2017 and 7 courses currently under evaluation during Fall 2017. The courses range from sophomore level through senior design courses, so assessment results include courses where program learning-outcomes are first introduced to courses where they are demonstrated. Instructors of courses being assessed collect student work-products from randomly selected students. As enrollment in courses vary greatly, the number of students whose work will be utilized must represent at least 10% of the total student enrollment, with a minimum of 5 students being utilized for smaller sections. An assessment team consisting of representatives from each specialty area as well as student representatives assess the work utilizing rubrics developed for each learning outcome.
A mixed-methods approach is used to evaluate this first cycle of implementation and assessment. Qualitative results include an evaluation of faculty reception and engagement during the individual course assessment. Quantitative metrics of the process include comparing expected vs. actual/measured: (a) courses evaluated in a given semester; (b) student artifacts; and (c) program learning outcomes demonstrated mastery. Based on the results of this first implementation cycle, refinements for the second implementation cycle are developed and discussed.
Brumbelow, K., & Barroso, L. R., & Fowler, D., & Kaihatu, J. M., & Rodriguez Chavarria, V. S. (2018, June), Lessons Learned from the First Round of Course Assessments After Curriculum Restructure Based on ASCE BOK2 Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30764
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