Why do we do this?
The reason to do assessment is to make our courses better for our students. As in manufacturing we need to monitor our processes (courses) to be sure a quality (educated) product (student) is consistently produced. So the data collected guides us as to when/how/why we should make changes in courses and curriculum. We try to assess ourselves at many different levels and using many different techniques. This process diagram shows the ways we assess, how the information routes and who acts on it.
How do we do it?
As a faculty we define outcomes and objectives . Outcomes are the skills we want our students to have at graduation. Objectives are the lifelong skills we hope to give them. Each course lists the outcomes that are addressed in that course, and we regularly check to see that our courses are teaching those skills
What do we do?
Direct measures of student performance are taken by examining student homework, tests and or labs. They are evaluated using rubrics developed by the department and college.
Direct measures of student performance are taken twice a year when the Software Engineering 2 project teams present to the Advisory Board. This is especially valuable as we get feedback from the major employers of our students. They also advise us on issues of curriculum development.
Every four years our students take a standardized Major Field Test (MFT) that is nationally normed.
Indirect measures are taken via the senior exit interview, employer and alumni surveys, summaries of employment data and student assessment of instruction.
Course reviews, once every three years each course is discussed at a faculty meeting. This ensures course flow well with each other, and that the entire faculty are aware of all course content.
Every year we make a report of these measures, and changes that we will/have made to address any weaknesses found.