Portfolio Assessment And Improvement For A First Year Engineering Curriculum

For the past five years, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology has redefined its firstyear engineering curriculum. The program, now required of all first year engineering students, incorporates curricular elements developed by the Foundation Coalition and elements from the EPICS program at the Colorado School of Mines. As part of the course, students are required to develop and maintain an electronic portfolio. Required postings are designed not only for student professional development but for ease of assessment of defined program outcomes. In this paper, we present a brief description of the program, defined program outcomes, and assessment processes currently in use along with results and current strategies for improvement. A discussion of the use of portfolios, sample rubrics, and improvement processes for portfolio development is included.