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Using Cooperative Education Data for ABET Reviews

Abstract The ABET 2000 criteria require that engineering departments have external evaluation of their engineering students. One of the potential methods of accomplishing this is to use the students on cooperative education assignments. At Texas A&M, over 250 individual students per year are involved in cooperative education. For all mechanical engineering students, there are more than 200 who have experienced at least one work term. For many years, the Cooperative Education program within the Career Center has collected data on both the student’s evaluation of the company and the co-op program and the employer’s evaluation of the student. These data will be reviewed and discussed in terms of our ABET analysis. Recently, the Co-op Program has developed an additional form that the employer is asked to fill out which tracks the ABET a through k criteria. The results for these surveys will be presented and discussed. Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University had their most recent ABET visit in fall of 2005. The results of the surveys were successfully used as external evaluations for students’ in the program.

Introduction Texas A&M University has a Co-operative Education program that is part of the University’sies Career Center. Within the Coop program, the Dwight Look College of Engineering (COE) has a long history of sending students to work in industry on an alternating semester basis. In particular, mechanical engineering has had many students do Co-op as part of their degree program. During fall 2004, the Dwight Look COE had their ABET visit.

The ABET visitors stressed outside evaluation of students’ performance. They were uncomfortable with using faculty evaluation of individual students. As we were preparing for the visit, mechanical engineering realized that through the Co-op program there was a direct independent evaluation of our students’ performance.

This paper will describe and discuss the evaluation procedure used for during our most recent ABET visit. Specifically, mechanical engineering will discuss our evaluation and what we used and the Co-operative Education Office will discuss their effort to provide a college wide evaluation for ABET.

Data Collection Co-operative Education engineering students must have a minimum grade point ratio (GRP) and generally speaking they should be in the upper division of their particular engineering program. However, exceptions are made. Prospective Co-op students’ interview companies of interest and if there is a match the student is offered a position. Generally, Co-op likes the students to have three alternating semesters of work study. Of course that has many variations. Students in

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Griffin, R., & McMahon, D., & Marberry, M. (2006, June), Using Cooperative Education Data For Abet Reviews Paper presented at 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. 10.18260/1-2--1417