1. Course Level Assessment in the Context of ABET
A Presentation for the Lumina Tuning Council Community College Committee September 16, 2011
Dr. LouAnn Berman
Assistant Vice President for Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness

2. The Big Picture Courses completed at Community Colleges
Lead to an accredited degree at a baccalaureate granting institution
So all assessment of programs and courses needs to be consistent with the expectations of accrediting organizations (ABET, ACS, SACS, WASC, etc.)

3. ABET Harmonized Criteria
General Criteria
Students
Program Educational Objectives
Program Outcomes
Continuous Improvement
Curriculum
Faculty
Facilities
Institutional Support
Program Criteria

4. ABET Harmonized Criteria
General Criteria
Students
Program Educational Objectives
Program Outcomes
Continuous Improvement
Curriculum
Faculty
Facilities
Institutional Support
Program Criteria
Specifies expectations of the student several years after graduation, usually about five years.

5. ABET-EAC Baccalaureate Level
General Criteria
Students
Program Educational Objectives
Program Outcomes
Continuous Improvement
Curriculum
Faculty
Facilities
Institutional Support
Program Criteria
(a) Math, science, & engineering
(g) Communication
(b) Design & conduct experiments
(h) Broad education
(c) Design
(i) Life-long learning
(d) Multi-disciplinary teams
(j) Contemporary issues
(e) Solve problems
(k) Engineering tools
(f) Professional & ethical responsibility
These are just the brief titles. Give out the criteria here.

6. ABET Harmonized Criteria
General Criteria
Students
Program Educational Objectives
Program Outcomes
Continuous Improvement
Curriculum
Faculty
Facilities
Institutional Support
Program Criteria
Defines the curriculum in broad terms. It does not specify the number of credit hours or specific courses.

7. ABET Harmonized Criteria
General Criteria
Students
Program Educational Objectives
Program Outcomes
Continuous Improvement
Curriculum
Faculty
Facilities
Institutional Support
Program Criteria
Specifies additional criteria that may exist for particular programs. Not all programs have program criteria.

8. The Building Blocks Course Learning Outcomes Program Outcomes
Program Educational Objectives

9. Some Definitions
Program Objective—Expected accomplishments of graduates during the first several years of professional practice following graduation from the program.
Program Outcome—That which students are expected to know or be able to do by the time of graduation from the program.
Course Outcome—That which a student should be able to do at the end of a particular course

10. How the Pieces Fit Professional Accreditation Regional accreditation
Program Objectives and Outcomes
Community Colleges
Regional Accreditation
Community College Transfer Coursework
Baccalaureate Programs

11. A Typical Assessment Flowchart

12. A Typical Assessment Flowchart

13. Forward—Backward Looking

14. Forward—Backward Looking

15. Three Steps of Assessment
Articulate the goals for student learning
Gather evidence of student performance
Direct measures—exams, papers, projects
Indirect measures—asking students how well they learned, tracking job placement rates
Use the information for program improvement
Walvoord, Barbara A., Assessment Clear and Simple: A Practical Guide for Institutions, Departments, and General Education, Jersey Bass, 2004.

16. An Example of the Plan
Let’s use Calculus I and the follow-on courses as an example of the course assessment process.

17. An Interesting Thought
From Gloria Rogers new blog:
You don’t have to be bad to get better.