Learning and Teaching > Program Assessment > Process to achieve outcomes
Report on ME Preparation
Response to COE SLTF Questions
Contact:
Qingze Zou, qzzou@iastate.edu, 4-9354
How is the department organized for continuous assessment/improvement of learning?
The ME department has set up a suite of committees for continuous assessment/improvement of learning, as schematically shown in the following flow chart. PICC makes sure all the committees interact effectively and get their jobs done correctly. MECC is responsible for integrating changes into the curriculum, both course objectives and curriculum coverage of program outcomes. MEASAC develops assessment tools, makes sure they are administered by the faculty, and tabulates results for distribution to CDC’s. MEGSC is responsible for curriculum matters at the graduate level. Each course has a CDC, which reviews assessment results for the course and makes recommendations to MECC for improving the course.
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PICC: Program improvement Coordinating Committee.
MECC: ME Curriculum Committee (MECC).
MEASAC: ME Academic Standards and Assessment Committee.
MEGSC: ME Graduate Studies Committee (MEGSC).
CDC's: Course Development Committees. |
What processes are used to develop and review program objectives and program/course outcomes?
MECC is responsible for developing program objectives and program outcomes. Each CDC is responsible for developing course objectives and identifying program outcomes for its course (one CDC per core course and one CDC for design course options). MEASAC is responsible for developing and administering assessments and tabulating results. CDC’s use these results to recommend changes to their courses. MECC reviews and summarizes these results annually and presents them to the faculty for approval.
What assessment measures are used—direct vs. indirect, qualitative (QL) vs. quantitative (QT), what groups/constituencies?
Direct Measures include: design panel assessment (QT), course objective assessments (QT). We are considering the usefulness of OPAL internal/coop assessments (QT) and FE data (QT).
Indirect Measures include: student assessments (QL) senior survey (QL), alumni survey (QL).
What changes have been made to your program as a result of your assessment feedback process?
Increase the number of technical electives students can take outside the ME department;
Instituted major changes in the instruction of mechanical design
Developed some coordination among instructors of design options in the department
Required every core course to incorporate “contemporary issues”
Change is initiated by instructor-centered CDC’s to assure that faculty are fully engaged in the quality improvement process
Changed some of the assessment tools!
Documentation and dissemination of objectives, outcomes, processes, and results?
We archive our assessment information on the Web to help preserve the corporate memory of the process and results attained. It also provides an easily accessible record for our stakeholders.
Faculty have been educated about the preparation for ABET visiting during several faculty meetings, and specific instructions for faculty’s input has been assigned;
Course materials for ME core courses including syllabi, homework assignments, lecture notes, laboratory manual, examples of students’ homework, exam and lab reports have been collected for this fall 2005, and will be collected for the next spring 2006.
Faculty CVs have been collected;
We have this semester (Fall 2005) completed an update of course objectives and their mapping into program outcomes.
What could the college do to help with portfolios, out-year assessments, data analysis and tools, etc.?
Assistance in compiling OPAL data from internship evaluations;
Coordinating with other departments to improve students learning outcomes in basic non-ME (math, physics) courses that are required by ME program.
