The Workshop Prepares You to: Identify key elements of a functional assessment process. Clarify the similarities and differences between course and program assessment. Make student outcomes measurable with the development of performance indicators. Understand the methods to assess student outcomes. Develop rubrics to assist in evaluating ...
The Fundamentals of Program Assessment Workshop is an online workshop designed with a focus on small group interaction to learn to design assessment processes, develop measurable student outcomes and apply data collection and reporting methods. The exercises and examples are from associate’s, bachelor’s and/or tech-focused programs. These can be applied to other …
What is the difference between an ABET and a non ABET accredited engineering program? An ABET accredited degree is the gold-standard for engineering and technology degrees. It tells employers that you have an education from a school …
Program objectives are long-range goals of what a program envis ions their graduates will achieve. ABET regards objectives as being obtained by graduates a few years after graduation. Program objectives will usually focus on successful careers or being skilled practitioners. They are much longer range attributes a graduate accomplishes.
Program assessment is defined as the systematic and ongoing method of gathering, analyzing and using information from various sources about a program and measuring program outcomes in order to improve student learning.Feb 11, 2008
ABET-accredited programs have processes in place to determine levels of student outcome attainment. Evaluation of the data collected in these processes are used to facilitate evidence-based continuous program improvement.
Assessment is a goal-oriented process. It entails comparing educational performance with educational purposes and expectations--these derived from the institution's mission, from faculty intentions in program and course design, and from knowledge of students' own goals.
Ultimately, assessment (for accreditation) is conducted to bring about improvement at all levels from course-to-program-to-the-institution. This is accomplished by establishing clear and measureable outcomes of student learning and by documenting and demonstrating that student learning has occurred.
An assessment plan outlines methods and tools that define clear expectations and standards for quality in products and performances. It also defines project monitoring checkpoints and methods to both inform the teacher and keep learners on track.
The Assessment Guidelines are an endorsed component of a Training Package that underpins the assessment process and sets out the industry approach to valid, reliable, flexible and fair assessment.
Assessment of academic programs focuses on enhancing student learning through systematic, faculty-driven processes for measuring what students know and can do at the end of their programs and using results to improve the educational experience.
Assessment is feedback from the student to the instructor about the student's learning. Evaluation uses methods and measures to judge student learning and understanding of the material for purposes of grading and reporting. Evaluation is feedback from the instructor to the student about the student's learning.
For example, research papers, exams, oral presentations, and individual creative or performance projects can be and have been assessed at the course level, in some cases even for the purpose of department/program-level assessment.Dec 17, 2020
A Guide to Types of Assessment: Diagnostic, Formative, Interim, and Summative.Aug 16, 2018
Assessment is integral to the teaching–learning process, facilitating student learning and improving instruction, and can take a variety of forms. Classroom assessment is generally divided into three types: assessment for learning, assessment of learning and assessment as learning.
The Four Steps of the Assessment CycleStep 1: Clearly define and identify the learning outcomes. ... Step 2: Select appropriate assessment measures and assess the learning outcomes. ... Step 3: Analyze the results of the outcomes assessed. ... Step 4: Adjust or improve programs following the results of the learning outcomes assessed.
This six-week online workshop takes place from February 23 through March 30, 2022, with live sessions from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. EDT every Wednesday.
This workshop takes place in an online, virtual format using ABET’s learning management system, D2L Brightspace, and Zoom.
Founded in 1932 under the name Engineers' Council for Professional Development, ABET (formerly Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) accredits post-secondary degree-granting programs. Many people interpret this to mean that ABET accredits departments, colleges, or even courses. In reality, ABET accredits programs, and your accreditation work should reflect the program as a whole.
While many people know the vision of ABET is to provide leadership in assuring quality and in stimulating innovation in the areas of applied science, computing, engineering, and technology education , they occasionally lose sight of the fact that this assurance resides within the quality of your own program. A common dilemma arises in how to properly showcase the quality of a program. Many programs have sailed successfully through previous ABET visits, but they find the newer process of outcomes-based accreditation somewhat overwhelming and do not know how to proceed. In addition, programs are uncertain of the best methods or tools to evaluate the level of achievement of expected outcomes for graduates.
collection of work samples from students is a portfolio. This method provides a direct method of assessment and allows multiple outcomes to be assessed at one time. Usually, portfolios will include work samples for a student beginning as a freshman. This allows learning and development over time to be showcased. In summary, portfolios are beneficial as multiple outcomes can be analyzed with one portfolio; however, developing and managing useful portfolios can be costly in terms of time and effort.
Direct assessment of student performance in a course directly tied to a specific program outcome is referred to as an embedded indicator. This type of information reflects a direct assessment method and can provide quite useful information. To be clear, embedded indicators do not refer to course grades, and we will discuss those separately. Embedded indicators relate to student performance on a particular activity, such as an exam question, project, or report, and correlate to a particular outcome. Courses that are more relevant to a particular outcome, such as shown in Table 1, are better choices for utilizing embedded indicators. It is important for the score of the activity to directly correlate to a specific outcome. This may take a little time on the part of the faculty member to directly associate test questions or weekly activities to a particular outcome. In addition, the management and statistical summary of results can be overwhelming for faculty and/or staff members but can be automated with a spreadsheet program to provide ease in obtaining results over time once developed.7,8
While surveys are considered indirect measures, they are usually the most popular form of assessment for program outcomes as well as program objectives. Administered to students and faculty, surveys ask individuals to share their perceptions about the program or course attributes. Having properly defined questions is a key to using a survey successfully. For example, we surveyed students in each of our undergraduate courses and asked them at the end of the semester to rate, on a scale of 1-5, how applicable the course was to each of our outcomes. In discussions with students we found high frustrations with this survey. Comments included students disliked seeing the same survey given in each of the classes whether the outcomes were relevant to the course or not. In addition, students felt unsure of what was meant by the particular outcome, which we felt would lead to inconsistencies in the data. For example, we asked students to rate their “Knowledge of aerospace structures”. Each student might have a very different interpretation of what type of knowledge we were looking for in this case. Therefore, having customized surveys for each of the courses, which includes performance criteria necessary to meet the outcome instead of simply stating the outcome, would prove much more beneficial.
Assessment methods are divided into two main types, direct and indirect methods. Direct assessment methods provide for the direct examination of student knowledge or skills and are much more difficult to achieve. Direct methods include observing students and examining their work. Indirect methods are much easier to achieve as they involve self-reporting of the extent or value of the learning experience. While indirect methods are valuable, they rely mostly on opinion or self-reporting.6 The most effective assessment process involves using both direct and indirect methods and should include a variety of methods. There is not just one perfect method for assessing your program.
Program objectives are long-range goals of what a program envisions their graduates will achieve. ABET regards objectives as being obtained by graduates a few years after graduation. Program objectives will usually focus on successful careers or being skilled practitioners. They are much longer range attributes a graduate accomplishes. One pitfall programs can face is that their objectives can many times be too closely related to what is expected of students at the time of graduation. Objectives should describe what is attained the first several years after graduation.