Effectively Assessing Student Learning Through Project Experiences

A goal of Western Kentucky University (WKU) is to engage students during their academic careers. The Electrical Engineering (EE) Program at WKU defines student engagement through project experiences. Many engineering programs use student projects as a means for address a majority of ABET Criteria 3 A-K. This paper will address the effectiveness of projects as a means of student engagement and meeting ABET Criteria 3 A-K. The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is a popular self-assessment instrument used by many universities. The usefulness of NSSE in assessing ABET Criteria 3 A-K will also be discussed. The ABET assessment data and the NSSE scores for upper division students will be examined. This paper will take a cross-sectional look at the value of projects in the engineering education process by studying the assessments of faculty and students. Introduction Western Kentucky University (WKU) University prides itself in engaging students across the campus. WKU has developed a Quality Enhancement Plan which states that “Students will engage with communities other than their own in purposeful learning activities that explicitly address their capacity and responsibility to contribute to community and society.“ 1 Each department across the campus has developed venues for engaging students. One method that the university uses to measure engagement is through the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) which is administered to each freshmen and senior student. The Department of Engineering at WKU is an ABET accredited program that has a mission of project-based engineering education. The department has chosen to engage students through this type of educational experience. Since the programs in the Department of Engineering are ABET accredited, the ABET criterion must be satisfied. The three programs in the department; civil engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering; have created individual assessment programs in order to continuously improve the programs. Project courses and design experiences play an integral role in the delivery of the project based courses at WKU. This paper will examine the effectiveness of engagement in increasing student learning in the electrical engineering program while meeting the ABET Criteria 3 A-K requirements. The NSSE scores of the EE students will be compared to the results of the ABET assessment to determine if there is any correlation and if the NSSE is an accurate predictor of EE student engagement. Definition of Engagement in Western Kentucky University Engineering Programs The focus of the WKU Department of Engineering is project-based engineering education. An excerpt from departmental mission statement clearly states this focus 2 : “The mission of the Department of Engineering is to produce, as its graduates, competent engineering practitioners. An engineering practitioner is one who has P ge 12583.1 a foundation of basic science, mathematics, and engineering knowledge, combined with practical knowledge and experience in applying existing technology to contemporary problems. “ The mission of the EE program is to build a foundation of knowledge in electrical engineering by integrating a variety of project experiences at every level throughout the curriculum. 2 The program is to be relevant to the region and to produce graduates who can immediately contribute to the profitability of their employer. Specifically the graduates of the EE program should have following qualities 2 : • Practical problem solvers with abstract thinking skills; • Life-long learners capable of building their careers upon a solid foundation of knowledge; • Competent in communicating technical materials and concepts in individual and group situations; • Able to apply with confidence the basic sciences and mathematics to their professional activities; and • Acclimated to individual and team project activities based upon numerous experiences relating to our project-based, industry-related curriculum. It should be noted that the mission statement and desired qualities of graduates of the EE program directly support the ABET Criteria 3 A-K. 3 During the creation of the engineering programs at WKU, much time and energy was devoted to defining project-based education and the engagement of students. The roles of the student as learner, observer, assistant, and practitioner have been clearly defined and articulated for this environment which is summarized in the table below. 4 Table 1: Roles of Student in WKU Engineering Programs Role Characteristics Learner • Gain foundational knowledge of the field • Learning the language used by engineers in the field Observer • Understand foundation of the field • Able to intelligently observe engineering professionals with understanding Assistant • Able to assist with projects • Data collection and performing tests Practitioner • Solve open-ended problems • Develop own solutions to engineering design problems (such as in capstone design experience) Throughout the curriculum, EE students are provided a variety of opportunities to grow in these roles. In the WKU Department of Engineering, an engaged student is a student who successfully develops as an engineer through the roles defined above and embodies the mission of the department.