Use Of Ongoing Assessment Of Intended Learning Outcomes To Evaluate Effectiveness Of Online And On Campus Delivery Of A Structural Analysis Course

The ABET TC2K criteria now require proof of continuous improvement similar to the quality assurance programs, such as, the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) that have long been used in industry. In order to effect continuous improvement in a program or course, ABET requires documentation of the procedure for assessing the course or program, a determination of any areas of weakness, effecting necessary changes to improve the course and then, re-assessing to find out how well the adopted measures worked, thus “closing the loop” on the continuous improvement process. The Civil Engineering Technology (CET) program at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is preparing for an ABET accreditation next fall. In preparation for the accreditation visit, the author carried out a survey of students in the online and on-campus structural analysis courses to gauge how well the predetermined set of intended learning outcomes (ILOs) were achieved. The students were asked to rate the ILOs for each of the six modules in the course on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being “very well understood” and 1 being “not understood at all”). The students submit the survey for each module at the completion of each module, thus providing immediate and ongoing feedback on student learning that could be used to make mid-course corrections. This paper discusses the results obtained from this assessment, if differences in student learning exist between the online and on-campus sections, and identifies potential areas of improvement.