An Outcomes-Driven Approach for Assessment

In this paper, we describe an ABET-driven assessment plan that was originally developed to address some weaknesses and concerns identified by program evaluators during a previous accreditation visit. However, faculty of the Electrical Engineering Technology (EET) seized this opportunity to embark on a major program revision making use of its newly organized Industrial Advisory Board (IAB). As a result, a five-step process that consists of 1) program assessment planning, 2) data collection, 3) data analysis, 4) program review, and 5) program improvement actions was developed. During this process, the program objectives and outcomes are evaluated and revised to maintain currency and technical relevance. Using the results from step 5, a curriculum mapping worksheet (CMW) is modified and used to revise the course-level assessment and evaluation plan. The CMW is a matrix mapping each course in the EET curriculum to appropriate program outcomes and identifies assessment tools used to measure the success of each outcome. Moreover, the CMW provides a mechanism for correlating program- level outcomes with course-level outcomes using effective assessment tools to measure student performance. Based on the results of the assessment tools, continuous improvement actions at the course level and program level are identified and used to revise the program assessment and evaluation plan which may also provide useful information to other institutions seeking ABET accreditation.