Assessment and Evaluation Framework with Successful Application in ABET Accreditation

Abstract

Abstract-The development of reliable and easy-to-deploy assessment plans are a world-wide interest of academic programs. The cultivation of a culture of assessment or engaging in an accreditation effort is dependent on the development of effective assessment frameworks. Examining overly large variety of sources and using different tools challenge the applicability of assessment plans and can prove to be major hurdles. In this paper, a unified framework is proposed that enables the assessment and evaluation of student outcomes, at the program level, and evaluating student performance as well. The proposed framework identifies a set of courses to be assessed using direct tools. The tools enable measurements of attainment scores at the course learning outcomes, performance indicators, and student outcome levels to create a paradigm for unified assessment. The framework was deployed within a two cycles empirical study and led to a successful accreditation of a computer engineering program by ABET. The paper includes a thorough analysis and evaluation of the framework and its application.

Extending STEM Education to Engineering Programs at the Undergraduate College Level

“…At the AUK, the CDP extends for two semesters and its prerequisites are very carefully designed. Figure (2) shows the requirements for students to start their CDPs and join a technical team [10,11]. When students prepare their proposals for the CDP, they should also join a technical team to perform extra academic activities that are related to their CDP topics; e.g.…”

MEBAUAC: Methodology for elaborating a baseline of the accomplishment of university accreditation criteria

“…About the accreditation, Polanin (2020) indicated: "Generally, accreditation is a nongovernmental peer review process that complies with nationally recognized standards established for the practice of accreditation in the United States" (p. 6). Damaj, Zaher, and Yousafzai (2017) also indicated: "The rapid growth in number of higher education institutes, all over the world, necessitates exploring frameworks for assessment and evaluation (AE) that promote quality" (p. 73). Additionally, Wang and Cao (2019) indicated: "Economic globalization will accelerate the internationalization of engineering education, so global and regional accreditation has gradually become an indispensable measure to guarantee engineering talent training quality" (p. 155).…”

Construction Engineering Technology Program Assessment Framework

“…McGourty et al [1] provided an overview of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) institution's efforts in establishing a comprehensive assessment program for continuous improvement, aligned with ABET Engineering Criteria 2000. Damaj et al [6] created a unified framework that enables the evaluation and assessment for student outcomes to be efficiently improved. The proposed framework unified both assessment and evaluation of SO attainment and evaluation of students' performance.…”

“…The achievement percentage in a course presents the assessment scores per CLOs. Figure 1 below describes the hierarchy of the framework proposed by Damaj et al [6]. A hierarchal framework enables vertical assessments of SOs and horizontal evaluation of student performances in courses.…”

“…A hierarchal framework enables vertical assessments of SOs and horizontal evaluation of student performances in courses. This unified framework led to successful identification of improvement aspects in the Computer Engineering program [6]. Christensen et al [7] presented the successful example of unifying assessment activities in Electrical Engineering Department in University of South Florida.…”