Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 2251

Innovative Outcome Portfolios for ABET Assessment Susan M. Morgan, W. Bradford Cross, Mark P. Rossow Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Abstract

The EC 2000 criteria require the assessment of program outcomes. While some engineering departments are using student portfolios for this assessment, the faculty charged with developing the undergraduate assessment plan in the Department of Civil Engineering at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville decided that student portfolios would be cumbersome to manage. In order to assess the outcomes directly, the faculty developed a new type of portfolio--the "outcome portfolio." Outcome portfolios are collections of material by outcome category. The portfolios are designed to allow the faculty from specific courses to choose representative student materials throughout the semester for inclusion. At the end of each semester, each faculty member reviews each portfolio and determines if the students appear to be performing satisfactorily or not. The faculty then meet as a department to discuss their findings and determine what, if anything, needs to be changed in the curriculum to improve student performance.

Introduction

The Department of Civil Engineering at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is in the process of preparing for its first ABET accreditation visit under the new Engineering Criteria 2000. Criteria 2 and 3 require engineering departments to "adopt ongoing processes for review, assessment, and continuous improvement."1, 2 In the process of compiling and developing potential assessment methods, the faculty charged with developing the Department’s assessment plan considered and adopted a range of traditional assessment techniques, such as surveys, grades, and industry focus groups. Traditional student and course portfolios were considered during this process. Student portfolios have been promoted and used for engineering program assessment by others.3, 5 However, the faculty decided that using traditional portfolios to assess department outcomes would prove cumbersome since student portfolios are "costly in terms of evaluator time and effort."3

It would be difficult to assess the Department’s outcomes without extensive examination of a large number of student portfolios. A small number of traditional portfolios are used within the University for university-wide assessment as well as tenure and promotion decisions. However,

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Cross, W. B., & Morgan, S. M., & Rossow, M. P. (2000, June), Innovative Outcome Portfolios For Abet Assessment Paper presented at 2000 Annual Conference, St. Louis, Missouri. 10.18260/1-2--8462