Program Assessment Through Product-based Learning in Undergraduate Engineering Programs in India

Venugopalan Kovaichelvan; Calvin Sophistus King

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual On line
Publication Date: June 22, 2020
Start Date: June 22, 2020
End Date: June 26, 2021
Conference Session: Approaches to Curriculum and Policy
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods
Page Count: 24
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--35093
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/35093
Download Count: 526

Paper Authors

biography

Venugopalan Kovaichelvan TVS Institute for Quality and Leadership

visit author page

Dr. V. KOVAICHELVAN is the Director of TVS Institute for Quality and Leadership, the Corporate University of TVS Motor Company Limited, India. The Institute focus on holistic development of talent through career lifecycle with focus on Functional & Professional skills, Cultural capabilities, Collective capabilities, Support business strategy and Corporate Social Responsibility.

visit author page

biography

Calvin Sophistus King Ph.D. Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology

visit author page

Dr. Calvin Sophistus King, heads the Outcome Based Education division of Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology (MCET). The division implements Outcome Based Education model by building faculty teaching competencies, developing systems and frameworks and reviewing processes. He continues to teach courses in engineering and facilitate faculty competence development programmes.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

Engineering education is one of the key enablers for sustainable growth of a nation’s economy. The exponential growth of engineering education in India has affected the quality of engineering graduates in terms of their employability. The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) accredits engineering programs using the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) framework. This framework has twelve graduate attributes of the ‘Washington Accord’ aligned with program outcomes. This paper proposes a systems approach which consists of input, transformation and output towards achieving employable skills in engineers. The program outcomes consisting of technical and professional skills are derived from the competencies required for the target roles in the industry and the graduates’ attributes. Keeping this in mind, a structured outcome-based curriculum was established for a mechanical engineering program in association with the industry. The courses needed towards achieving the program outcomes were identified and course outcomes have been established. While the course outcomes were assessed using formative and summative assessments, the engineering institutions had no proven mechanism to assess the program outcomes explicitly. In an attempt to resolve this issue, a thematic approach called the Product and System Based Learning (PSBL) was adopted in the lines of Product Oriented Learning (POL) and Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) approach in three stages. The three stages include Implement-Operate (Skills), Design-Implement-Operate (Design), and eventually Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (Innovation). Program learning outcomes were established for each stage as competencies and performance indicators were developed for assessment in the form of a rubric. On completion of the first stage, the performance of the students using the course assessment was compared with the performance assessment using the indicators aligned to competencies. The results showed a very high level of academic performance at the course level assessment, but this result was not reflected at the performance level assessment. This indicates that a direct assessment of program outcomes is important to develop employable engineering graduates for the industry. This paper demonstrates the need for a direct assessment of program outcomes which will ensure the readiness of hands on, industry ready engineering graduates from the academic system and proposes to resolve the gap through an integrated framework.

Citation
Format

Kovaichelvan, V., & King, C. S. (2020, June), Program Assessment Through Product-based Learning in Undergraduate Engineering Programs in India Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--35093

TY - CPAPER
AB - Engineering education is one of the key enablers for sustainable growth of a nation’s economy. The exponential growth of engineering education in India has affected the quality of engineering graduates in terms of their employability. The National Board of Accreditation (NBA) accredits engineering programs using the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) framework. This framework has twelve graduate attributes of the ‘Washington Accord’ aligned with program outcomes. This paper proposes a systems approach which consists of input, transformation and output towards achieving employable skills in engineers. The program outcomes consisting of technical and professional skills are derived from the competencies required for the target roles in the industry and the graduates’ attributes. Keeping this in mind, a structured outcome-based curriculum was established for a mechanical engineering program in association with the industry. The courses needed towards achieving the program outcomes were identified and course outcomes have been established. While the course outcomes were assessed using formative and summative assessments, the engineering institutions had no proven mechanism to assess the program outcomes explicitly. In an attempt to resolve this issue, a thematic approach called the Product and System Based Learning (PSBL) was adopted in the lines of Product Oriented Learning (POL) and Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) approach in three stages. The three stages include Implement-Operate (Skills), Design-Implement-Operate (Design), and eventually Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (Innovation). Program learning outcomes were established for each stage as competencies and performance indicators were developed for assessment in the form of a rubric. On completion of the first stage, the performance of the students using the course assessment was compared with the performance assessment using the indicators aligned to competencies. The results showed a very high level of academic performance at the course level assessment, but this result was not reflected at the performance level assessment. This indicates that a direct assessment of program outcomes is important to develop employable engineering graduates for the industry. This paper demonstrates the need for a direct assessment of program outcomes which will ensure the readiness of hands on, industry ready engineering graduates from the academic system and proposes to resolve the gap through an integrated framework.
AU - Venugopalan Kovaichelvan
AU - Calvin Sophistus King Ph.D.
CY - Virtual On line
DA - 2020/06/22
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Program Assessment Through Product-based Learning in Undergraduate Engineering Programs in India
UR - https://peer.asee.org/35093
DO - 10.18260/1-2--35093
ER -