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Course Assessment; A consistent Model

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Conference

2012 ASEE International Forum

Location

San Antonio, Texas

Publication Date

June 9, 2012

Start Date

June 9, 2012

End Date

June 10, 2012

Conference Session

International Forum Poster Session & Welcome Reception: Sponsored by Quanser and Cypress Semiconductors

Tagged Topic

ASEE International Forum

Page Count

15

Page Numbers

17.11.1 - 17.11.15

DOI

10.18260/1-2--17033

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/17033

Download Count

367

Paper Authors

biography

Sabah Razouk Abro Lawrence Technological University

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Dr. Sabah Abro is an internationally educated math professor and program Director at Lawrence Technological University. He graduated with a Bachelor degree from the University of Baghdad, pursued a post graduate diploma in planning from the United Nations institute in the middle east, Went to Wales in the United kingdom to get his Master’s degree and then to Belgium for his Ph.D. He has also international work experience; he served as Faculty at Al Mustansiria University in Baghdad, a regional consultant at the Arab Institute for Statistics, a position that enabled him to lecture in a number Arab countries.
Sabah has over 25 years of experience in higher education including more than 15 years in education management across different parts of the world. Concentration in the last 15 years was on development of career, Art & Science, technology and engineering programs.

Leading positions in educational institutions including chair of department, acting Dean, university board member, University assessment committee member, consultant and team leader.

A unique experience in coordination between educational institution and industrial partners to build new paradigm in education through an NSF sponsored program.

Many years of in-depth experience in curriculum development. Extensive knowledge in academic programs, professional development programs and on the job training plans. Motivated, fluent in English with multi-lingual capability, internationally educated professional, with work experience in different countries and international organizations. Highly diversified, personable and outreaching communication skills.

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biography

Jerry Cuper Lawrence Technological University

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Jerry Cuper is a professor and advisor in the Department of Engineering Technology in the College of Engineering. His education includes graduate and undergraduate degrees, and completion of a technology apprenticeship program. Mr. Cuper’s career has spanned a wealth of experience in the machine shop, on the drawing board, in construction, and many years in engineering design, testing and development, management, and planning. Most of his career was with the Ford Motor Company. Mr. Cuper’s last assignment was managing the Ford Technology Review Center to help implement suppliers’ new technologies. He developed and led the implementation of a new supplier process to dramatically change the way supplier technologies were integrated into Ford products. This supported Ford’s vision to change from being a fast follower to being a leader in technology. Mr. Cuper developed the first-production automotive application of Graphite Fiber Reinforced Plastic; this bracket was given the Materials Engineering “Award of Merit”. Cuper has taught courses in engineering and business at Lawrence Tech evening programs as an adjunct instructor since 1978. He has demonstrated the ability to work extremely well with students to focus their efforts on academic achievement and long-term career goals. Mr. Cuper’s passion is muscle cars. He has owned 20 Mustangs over the years, starting with the 1965 2+2 Fastback,now has a 2010 GT convertible, and is ordering his 21st - 2013.

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Abstract

Course Assessment; A consistent ModelIn the last decade or so educational goals assessment was the center of attention inmany higher education institutions. Accreditation agencies like the Higher LearningCommission (HLC) and Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)are among a larger spectrum of entities demanding assessment should not only be partof the educational programs management process, but it should also be part of a morecomprehensive process, which is the continuous improvement.Based on these facts, a need for developing a consistent model in the assessment atthe course level is highly needed. This model should map courses assessment to theprogram learning outcomes and ultimately to the university educational goals because itis an important stage in the whole assessment process.This paper is intended to present a methodology of assessing program learningoutcomes through assessing the course learning objectives.Teaching course by objectives has gained momentum in the last decade or so; it hasproven beneficial to the students, instructors and the educational process at large.We will show that the assessment of a well defined set of course learning objectives willprovide a reliable source of program learning outcomes evaluation if they are mappedproperly.The conventional course evaluation that all institutions distribute at the end of eachsemester does not provide indices for success or failure to achieve the educationalgoals or program learning outcomes. It does, however, give indications about a set ofinformation that cannot be considered a model of assessment.The model that we have designed and used for three semesters has two methods ofassessment; the course learning objectives and the direct and the indirect assessment.The direct assessment is conducted by the instructor where he or she will set up thelevel of achievement that is designed for each objective. Then instructor will getfeedback on the level of achievement based on the test, assignments and projectsresults meant to assess the level of achievement of the particular objective. Thisprocess will be an ongoing process throughout the semester where the final actual levelof achievements will be compared with the desired level set by the instructor at thebeginning of the semester. The negative or positive deviation from the target score ofachievement per objective is then used to analyze the learning process and identifymeans and methods to improve or maintain the target achievment.The indirect part is the student’s contribution to the assessment model, where studentswill rank the achievement of the same learning objectives from their prospective.The model will easily pinpoint if there is any inconsistency in the assessment, for theresults from both direct and indirect sources should provide the same picture and levelof achievement within statistically accepted differences.Any significant deviation from consistency is an indication of a serious problem in thecourse structure and probably methods of delivery that should be dealt with at thedepartment level.The paper will discuss the process of the successful writing of measurable learningobjective. We will introduce statistical analysis of results from selected courseassessments.We will argue that this assessment process could lead to continuous improvementprocess if it is properly integrated in the plan of improvement.The paper will also discuss the mapping of course learning objectives to the programlearning objectives and university goalsDr. Sabah Abro Professor Jerry CuperProfessor/Program Director Department of Engineering TechnologyDepartment of Engineering Technology Lawrence Technological UniversityLawrence Technological University Southfield, MichiganSouthfield, Michigan jcuper@ltu.edusabro@ltu.edu

Abro, S. R., & Cuper, J. (2012, June), Course Assessment; A consistent Model Paper presented at 2012 ASEE International Forum, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--17033

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