Designing Performance Metrics and Rubrics to Assess Student Outcome Attainment in Engineering Project Design Course

Abstract

The identification and development of efficient assessment and evaluation procedures (Performance Metrics) is crucial for analyzing Student Outcome attainment in Engineering Programs. The present paradigm shift in the education system has diverted the focus from teacher-centric approach to learner-centric approach. It involves the active involvement of students for their respective learning. Students are intended to perform better when they get opportunity to develop skills through experiential learning. In an engineering curriculum, Project-based courses are embedded to incorporate “learning by doing” approach and provide additional orientation to the theoretical courses studied. With this vision, the objective of this article is to present a process for continuous assessment and evaluation of graduates learning in their respective Project Design course. A sequenced procedure from defining Performance Metrics/Indicators (as per Bloom’s learning levels) for Project course to evaluate results for assessing subsequent student outcome attainment level is presented. This includes development of Rubrics for selected student outcome (ABET-EAC2) related to Project design course, collating the data using direct and indirect assessment tools and their result analysis. Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) as defined by ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) has listed seven student outcomes. EAC2 defines capability of student to produce problem-specific potential design solutions to address functional requirement of societal and environmental needs. The methodology is described and implemented by taking sample data of one pass out batch of one of the Engineering Program at our Institute. The results are evaluated and analyzed according to the expected attainment level. A comprehensive analysis leads to designing and incorporation of subsequent improvement measures to establish accountability for Outcome-Based Education in terms of student’s employability.