Assessment and Evaluation Framework with Successful Application in ABET Accreditation

Abstract

The development of reliable and easy-to-deploy assessment plans are a world-wide concern of academic programs. The cultivation of a culture of assessment or engaging in an accreditation effort is dependent on the development of effective assessment frameworks. Examining large variety of sources and using different tools challenge the applicability of assessment plans and can prove to be major hurdles. In this paper, a unified framework is proposed that enables the assessment and evaluation of student outcomes, at the program level, and evaluating student performance as well. The proposed framework identifies a set of courses to be assessed using direct tools. The tools enable measurements of attainment scores at the course learning outcomes, performance indicators, and student outcome levels to create a paradigm for unified assessment. The framework was deployed within a two cycles application and led to a successful accreditation of a computer engineering program by ABET.