Assessment of Student Outcomes -- Civil Engineering

CRITERION 3. STUDENT OUTCOMES A. Student Outcomes

Our studentoutcomes are listed below:

(a)an abilitytoapply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering

(b)an abilitytodesign and conduct experiments, aswell asto analyze andinterpret data

(c)an abilitytodesign a system, component, or process to meet desired needswithin realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political,ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability

(d)an abilityto functionon multidisciplinaryteams

(e)an abilitytoidentify, formulate, andsolve engineering problems

(f)an understanding ofprofessional andethical responsibility

(g)an abilitytocommunicate effectively

(h)the broadeducation necessary to understandthe impact ofengineering solutionsin a global, economic, environmental, and societal context

(i) a recognition ofthe need for, and an ability toengage in life-long learning

(j) a knowledgeofcontemporary issues

(k)an abilitytouse thetechniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineeringpractice

(l) a broad fundamental knowledge to qualify for and pass the New York State FE Exam administered in April ofthe year oftheir graduation.

Criteria(a) through (k) coincide withthe ABET Criteria(a) through(k).Criterion(l)has been addedby our CE Department toemphasize the importance ofgettingthe students started on their way to eventual professional licensure intheir careers.

Our studentoutcomes are publishedon our CE Departmentalweb site.

B. Relationship of Student Outcomesto ProgramEducational Objectives

The relationship ofour student outcomes to our programeducational objectives is shown in

Table 3-1 below:

TABLE 3-1

Relationship of Student Outcomesto ProgramEducational Objectives

ProgramEducationalObjective / Relevant ContributingStudent Outcomes
1 / (i),(j),(k)
2 / (d), (e), (g),(k)
3 / (c), (e), (f), (g), (h),(j), (k)
4 / (c), (e), (h),(i),(j),(k)
5 / (f), (l)
6 / (c), (i),(j), (k), (l)

Student outcomes (i), (j)and (k) relate to life-long learning, knowledge ofcontemporary issues, and the ability to use modern engineeringtools in engineering practice and contributetoward achieving our ProgramEducationalObjective #1 (life-long learning). Student outcomes (d), (e), (g), and (k) relate to teamwork, ability to solveengineering problems, ability tocommunicate effectively,and ability to use modern engineering tools, andcontributetoward achieving our ProgramEducational Objective # 2(teamwork, interdisciplinary concepts, organizational skills). Similarly, the correlationofour student outcomes and our remaining programeducational objectivesisshown in Table 3-1. Our student outcome (l) relating to passing the New York State FE Examin the student’ssenior yearcorrelates directly with our ProgramEducationalObjective

# 6 (professional licensure).

B. Student Outcomes

B.1. Description of Assessment ProcessesforStudent Outcomes

Each student outcome defined by the Civil Engineering Department is assessed by generating and evaluating data from multiple processes, bothdirect and indirect.

Direct processes include:

•examquestions

•student project reports

•studentlabreports

•senior project presentations

•assessment-specific oralexams

•performance ofstudent teams in regional or national competitions (e.g. ASCE’s concrete canoe competition, ASCE/AISC’s steel bridge competition) and

•students’ performance on the New York State’s FE exam(first part ofthePE exam attempted bymost ofour students inApril oftheir senior year).

Indirect processesinclude:

•studentcourse assessment surveys where the relevant studentoutcomes (a) to (l)in each required CE course are specifically addressed to solicitthe student’sopinion if those outcomeswere attained inthat course. Table 4-4 below shows the listing of required courses taken by the CE students wherethe relevantstudent outcomes (a) through (l) are addressed.

•exitsurveysgiven to seniors prior to their graduation

•placement data ofgraduates

•data on graduate schooladmissions ofgraduates

Table 4-5 below shows the assessment processesused for each ofthe (a) through (l)

student outcomes for generating and evaluatingthe relevantdata on student outcomes:

B.2. Frequency withwhich the Assessment Processes areCarried out

The frequency with which each of the assessment processesare carried out is listed in

Table 4-6 below:

TABLE4-4

ListingofRequiredCECourseswhereStudentOutcomes(a)through(l)areSpecificallyAddressed

CE/EID Course / StudentOutcomes(a)through(k)1
(SameasABET(a)through(k)) / Student Outcome (l)2
a / b / c / d / e / f / g / h / i / j / k / l
CE120 / X / X / x / x / x / x / x / x / X
CE121 / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
CE122 / X / X / X / X / X / X
CE131 / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
CE141 / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
CE142 / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
CE341 / X / X / X / X / X / X
CE342 / X / X / X / X / X / X
CE351 / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
CE361 / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
CE363 / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
CE364 / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
EID101 / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
ESC100 / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
ESC101 / X / X / X / X / X / X
ESC140 / X / X / X / X / X / X / X

1Thesestudentoutcomes are carried overfrom the ABET 2006 Self-Study

2Thisstudentoutcome was introduced in 2011

TABLE 4-5

AssessmentProcesses for Each of the Student Outcomes (a) through (l) forGenerating and Evaluating Data

Student

AssessmentProcesses

DirectProcessesIndirectProcesses

Outcomes(a)

through(l)

Student

Exams3

Assessment SpecificOral Exams4

Lab/Project

Reports

Senior Project Presentations

External Student Competitions

FE Exam

Student Course Surveys

Student Exit Surveys

Placement

Data

Graduate

School Admissions Data

(a) X X X X X

(b) X X X X X X X

(c) X X X X X X X X

(d) X X X X

(e) X X X X X X X X X (f) X X X X X X X (g) X X X X X X X X (h) X X X X X

(i) X X X X X X X X (j) X X X X X X X X X (k) X X X X X X X X

(l)5 X X X X X

3See Table4-4 forcoursesrelevant toeachstudent outcome (a) through (l)

4This metric was initiatedin Fall2011and will befully implementedforall coursesby Fall 2015. Duringthis interval,the metric will be used as the data becomes available.

5Thisstudentoutcome was introduced in Fall 2011.Data for thisoutcome will beusedas it becomes available overthe next 4 yearsby 2015.

Table 4-6

Frequency withwhicheach of theAssessmentProcesses for Student Outcomes is Carried Out

AssessmentProcesses

Annually

Frequency

Semi-annually

(OnceEverySemester)

Other

StudentExamsX

OralExamsX Lab/ProjectReportsX SeniorPresentations X

ExternalStudentCompetitionsX

FEExamX

StudentCourseSurveys

Overa4-yearperiod,studentcourse surveysareconductedinallrequiredCE coursesinatleast6ofthe8semesters

StudentExitSurveysAta minimum,exitsurveysareconducted

PlacementDataX

GraduateSchoolAdmissionsDataX

B.3. Expected level ofAttainmentfor Each ofthe Student Outcomes

We aimto achieve anexpectedlevelofattainment for each ofthe student outcomes (a) through (l) in totality foreach graduating classthat has completed our 4-year CE curriculumat Cooper Union. To evaluate the attainment ofstudent outcomes, we essentially track the progress ofeachstudentas he/she progresses throughthe curriculum using theassessment processes shown in Table 4-5 above togather data.These data are then compiled and analyzed on an aggregate basis for the entire graduating classto obtain a measure of accomplishment with regard to each metric for the student outcomes.

These measures ofaccomplishment are then compared against two expected levels of attainment:

1. an expectedlevel ofattainment for each metric for evaluatingthe student outcomes.

2. comparison ofthe accomplishments ofeach graduating class as measured by all metrics against an expected level ofattainment for each ofthe student outcomes (a) through (l).

The expected levels ofattainment in both categories aboveare shown in Table 4-7 and described below in greater detail:

Table 4-7

AttainmentTargets inSpecific Metricsfor Student Outcomes

MetricAccomplishmentinCourses,Oral

Exams,Lab/ProjectPresentations,etc.

Accomplishmentofa GraduatingClass

Duringa 4-yearPeriod

StudentExams3.03.0

OralExams3.03.0

Lab/Project

Reports3.03.0

Senior

Presentations3.03.0

3.0

ExternalStudent

Competitions-

FEExam-

StudentCourse

(At least oneteamparticipatesin a

Regional/National Competition)

3.0

(At least 50% ofseniorstake the FE Examand of these at least 50% pass the exam)

Surveys3.03.0

ExitSurveys6--

3.0

Placement/

GraduateSchool-

(At least 50% ofgraduating seniors have either secured ajobor admission to a graduate school)

6Resultsofexit surveysareused onlyqualitatively forcontinuousprogramimprovement