Direct assessment of engineering programs at the City College of New York

Assessment of student performance beyond exam grades and grade point averages is essential to the continuous improvement of engineering education. Detailed assessment results allow faculty to easily determine which program areas need improvement and which are successfully achieving educational objectives and course outcomes. Direct assessment is the most effective method of evaluating student performance as it involves direct examination or observation of specific student knowledge. Evaluation of "soft" outcomes is challenging and often inadequate. Direct assessment procedures were adopted by engineering programs at the City College of New York in preparation for a 2010 re-accreditation visit by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). The four programs presented in this paper used similar direct assessment processes based on development of performance criteria and rubrics to assess outcomes. Some of the unique aspects of the various assessment methods include: weighting courses based on their contribution to a particular performance criterion; modifying department-wide rubrics in response to the needs of individual courses; and reviewing the instructor's assessment by a faculty panel to ensure objectivity. This paper discusses the challenges outcomes assessment poses for engineering programs.