Assessment and its Role in Accreditation

1
Assessment and its Role in Accreditation

• Deborah Whitfield
• Frances Bailie
• Adel Abunawass

2
Overview

• Assessment Process
• Accreditation
• Assessment at Slippery Rock University
• Assessment at Iona College
• Assessment at the University of West Georgia
• Conclusions

3
Assessment Process

• Goals
• Objectives for each goal
• Assessment Tools
• Timetable
• Process
• Responsibility
• Assess the Assessment

4
Accreditation

• Why?
• Distinction
• Administrative pressure
• ABET and the CAC
• Assessment for Accreditation
• First of the seven criteria
• Select own objectives to be assessed

5
Accreditation

• New ABET assessment criteria
• Effective 2009-2010 cycle
• Communication abilities
• Ethical and professional abilities
• Critical Thinking Abilities
• Technical abilities
• Continuing Professionally

6
Assessment at Slippery Rock UniversityDeborah
WhitfieldProfessor of Computer
Sciencedeborah.whitfield_at_sru.edu

• 8,000 students
• ABET accredited
• 3 BS degrees CS, IS, IT
• Began assessment in 1995

7
Assessment Framework

• Three goals, each with five objectives
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Communication and Interpersonal Skills
• Ethical and Professional Responsibilities
• Stakeholders
• Students, Faculty, Advisory Board (employers)
• Assessment Methods
• Student surveys
• Course embedded
• Internship appraisal

8
Assessment Process and Timetable

• Student surveys Soph, Jr, Sr
• Blackboard, 1st day of classes
• Course embedded
• Programming assignments, written papers,
  presentations
• Internship appraisals
• Report to stakeholders
• Incorporate recommendations into final report
• Modify internship survey for more accurate
  tracking
• Increase credit hours in CS1
• Change languages to Alice, Java
• Identify courses to assess ethics
• Repeat the cycle

9
Observations

• Time needed
• Graduate assistant
• Reduced load
• Short-cuts
• Automate surveys
• Templates for rubrics shared by faculty
• Advantages to assessment
• More open discussion of course content
• Students know objectives of assignments
• Increase of credits okd by administration
• Accreditation visit easier

10
Assessment at Iona College Fran BailieAssociate
Professor of Computer ScienceFBailie_at_iona.edu

• Small suburban college
• ABET accredited BS in CS
• No institutional support
• Faculty driven

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Assessment Plan

• Stakeholders Students, Faculty, Alumni,
  Employers, Advisory Board
• Structure of Responsibilities
• Course coordinators
• Assessment Committee
• Full Department
• Determine Goals and Objectives (Department and
  Coordinators)
• College department mission statements
• Program goals objectives
• Course objectives

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Assessment Plan (cont)

• Identify Data Sources and Develop Instruments
  (Assessment Committee)
• Students (course evaluations, exit surveys
  interviews)
• Faculty (course assessments)
• Alumni (surveys)
• Employers (surveys and internship evaluations)
• Advisory Board (meetings and surveys)
• Perform Assessment
• Administer instruments, analyze results
  (Committee)
• Identify and track problems (Committee
  Department)
• Suggest implement solutions (Department)
• Next round determine effectiveness of solution
  (Department)

13
Assessment Reflections

• Problems
• Do results indicate an actual problem?
• Assessments must be repeated
• Requires patience and perseverance
• Faculty cooperation uneven
• Positive Outcomes
• Identifies weaknesses
• Heightens faculty awareness of objectives
• Fosters proactive approach to improvement
• Solves problems before they become crises

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University of West Georgia Assessment Adel
AbunawassProfessorChair, Department of Computer
Science adel_at_westga.edu

• Over 10,000 students
• CAC/ABET accredited
• BS and MS degrees (BS is CAC/ABET accredited)
• Four Graduate Certificates in Computing
• A Proposed BA in CS with Threads in Software
  Development, Cyber Forensics Security,
  Digital Media.

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COMPASS

• History
• We borrowed learning outcomes from the CC2001
  (1999-2000)
• We built our own database for data collection
• Accredited by ABET in 2002
• We adopted a CMS (Moodle) for our courses
• We evolved the CC2001 learning outcomes
• We integrated/recreated our database with Moodle
• We also integrated our instruments with Moodle
• We have another ABET visit this coming Fall

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COMPASS

• Four components
• Process Loop
• Input
• Analysis
• Implementation
• Timeline
• Assessment Input
• Assessment Output
• http//www.cs.westga.edu/Assessment/HomePage

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Our Experience

• A culture shift in the Department
• Not a replacement for informal assessment
• Faculty plan course work based on students needs
  programs goals
• Students are aware of program, curriculum,
  course, assignment expectations
• Better planning
• Requests for resources easier to justify
• Made University/State reviews easier to complete
• Yes, there is some pain, but it is a good sort of
  pain -)

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Conclusion

• Keep It Simple
• Get Faculty, Staff, Students, etc. involved
• Design your assessment to meet your needs
• Data collection is seductive
• Use results
• to improve your programs processes
• to plan
• to support requests for resources
• etc.